Life After Tentacle
by H2OGirl101
Summary: This story is basically about the girls' lives after season 3 and the water tentacle, Emma comes back, and they all grow up, get married, and have children. This story follows their lives with their children.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Emma's Back

Emma's P.O.V.

Ahh, Gold Coast, Australia. It's been a little over a year since I've been here, though not much has changed. I just finished unpacking, putting all my old stuff back where it belongs in my room. Sure I had fun with my family, traveling the world and all, but I really missed my best friends, not to mention my boyfriend and I couldn't wait to see them again.

"I'm going out," I told my mom the minute I got down the stairs, then I left out the front door. I decided the best place to look for my friends, besides Mako, would be the Juicenet. I found it by memory and hadn't even bothered to look at the name of the place.

Once I entered, I noticed that many things had changed, I guessed that Ash had done this while I was gone. With all the changes, plus the fact that I haven't been here in so long, I couldn't find the boss' office, I planned on getting my old job back. Then I saw a waitress, I cold tell she was a waitress by the tray of drinks she carried, she had hair redder than Charlotte's, and her hair was spiked like the character, Alice in the movie _Twilight_ that I saw when my family was in the U.S. So I decided to ask her where the boss' office was, she seemed nice enough.

"Hi," I said as I walked up to her.

"If you take a seat I'll be with you in a sec," she replied.

"Actually I was hoping you could tell me where the boss' office is?" I asked.

" If you're looking for a job, you've come to the wrong place, the boss only hires certain people, "she rudely said with a smirk, "Like me."

" For you information, I have worked here before, and I am very good friends with the boss" I informed her.

"Really?" she said, surprised, "Which one?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You know, the owner or his girlfriend who runs this place with him," she replied, " If you're here for his girlfriend, your out of luck, she's not here, and if your here for the owner, he's already taken, trust me, I tried."

"Just tell me where the office is," I replied bluntly, I wasn't sure if I should believe her or not. She seemed like the lying type, but what if she was telling the truth? What if Ash had really gotten another girlfriend? I just had to talk to him myself to find out the truth.

"Okay, the owner then, follow me," she said, then she led me to a closed door, "he's in there. I have to get back to work." She finished, then left and I knocked on the door.

"Come in," A boy's voice answered, it didn't sound like Ash's voice, but it was familiar, so I opened the door and walked in. To find Zane! Of all people, how did he end up owner of the Juicenet?

"Emma?" Zane asked.

"Yeah," I replied, "you do know your waitress isn't one of the sweetest ones right?"

"Oh, that's Sophie, we only keep her around because she's all we have. She scared away anyone else who wanted to work here," Zane replied.

"We?" I asked

"Yeah, isn't it obvious? I run this place with Rikki. Hence the name _Rikki's_ ," he said, like it was so obvious. Then I remembered what Sophie had said about him running it with his girlfriend, and it made sense.

"Oh, well I did come to get a job, I could take her place if you wanted me to," I said.

"That would be great! You have experience and everything, plus I'm positive Rikki would allow it. So when can you start?" Zane asked.

"Tomorrow, first I want to see all the people I've missed while I was gone, " I replied.

"Okay, the time we opened hasn't changed, so try to be on time, if your not though, it's okay, we're cool with that. Just don't be too late," Zane said, "Oh, and on your way out, tell Sophie I need to see her."

"Sure," I said on my way out of the office.

"The boss wants to see you," I told Sophie as I passed her on my way out.


	2. The Big Meet

Chapter 2: The Big Meet

(Still Emma's P.O.V.)

I took another look around _Rikki's _to see if they were there, while looking, I noticed many things that should have told me this wasn't the Juicenet and I felt dumb for not noticing these things before. Once I was outside, I even noticed the name _Rikki's _across the top in front of the building.

Then I headed to the Marine Park, in hope to meet Cleo after her work. I got there just in time, I saw Cleo going into the employee locker room, probably to change out of her work clothes. So I decided to wait for her and surprise her. It was only about 10 minutes later that she walked out and I casually called to her, "Hey! Remember me?" She looked over at me, a look of confusion across her face, but in no more than a few seconds, it was overwhelmed with recognition as she yelled "Emma!" and she ran over to me, and we hugged, it's been so long since we've seen each other. After we finished hugging I said, "I'm going to go find Rikki. If you see her, please don't tell her I'm back, I want to surprise her too."

After one final hug, I left for Mako, hoping to find Rikki there. When I got to the moon pool as I entered through the under water entrance, I saw an orange mermaid tail, and blonde hair. I decided it was Rikki, she was the only other mermaid with blonde hair that I knew.

"Hey Rikki!" I said, but when she turned around, I noticed, it wasn't Rikki at all!

"Who are you?" I asked.

" Not Rikki, and I was going to ask you the same thing," she said, " I'm Bella."

" I'm Emma," I replied. There was a long awkward silence as I thought about how she had become a mermaid, and if she knew about Cleo and Rikki.

" So," Bella said, "You're a mermaid."

"So are you," I retorted.

"And you know Rikki and Cleo?" she asked.

"Yeah, we became mermaids together," I replied.

"Ok," Bella said, "Then I know I can trust you."

" You know them too?" I asked.

" Yeah, I moved here this year, and once I found out they were mermaids too, we became friends, " Bella explained.

"Where did you become a mermaid," I asked.

"In a pool similar to this one in Ireland when I was 8," Bella said. After that we got to talking about Cleo and Rikki, and I learned what I had missed, while Bella learned more about Cleo, Rikki, and my past. Then we left the moon pool and headed back to _Rikki's _.

Once there, I found an angry Sophie and a very happy Rikki, who seemed to already know I was here. We hugged, and I saw Cleo was also there, and gave her a look. "Wasn't me," She replied.

" No," Rikki said, "It was Zane." Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell him not to say anything to Rikki, oh well.

" Okay," I said in a mock serious voice staring at both of them, " Did you forget, or did you purposely not tell me you replaced me?" I asked pointing to Bella who wasn't too far behind me. Their expressions became worried as they tried to find the right words to say.

"Well, you see . . . " Cleo started.

" It never really came up . . . " Rikki said.

I looked back at Bella, and we both burst out laughing! They both looked so confused, so I explained, "we just met, and we already like each other. There's nothing to worry about." Then they joined in laughing and we had a group hug.

" Oh, and you should know . . ." Cleo started.

" We invited someone else,"Rikki finished as someone entered _Rikki's_ and I turned around to see . . . Ash! I ran to him and we hugged and kissed.

"I missed you," Ash said.

"I missed you too," I replied. Zane came out of his office, and Lewis came in behind Ash, he must have been the person to go and get him. And, seeing us all here together, I knew, that at this moment, we were ready to face anything the future may throw at us.


	3. Timeline

A/N This chapter is basically a timeline that tells what has happened between Emma coming back, to them having children.

Timeline

No one's P.O.V.

2010-2015

All the couples stayed together through college, they each loved one another. So, by 2015 they decided to get married! Everything went smoothly until the unexpected full-moon on their honey-moons, and each girl got affected, making it not exactly the best night for each boy alone. But after that everything went fine.

2016

This year Zane's dad gets married! But the real shock is whom he is marrying. At first it is a mystery to everyone, including Zane. They knew it wasn't Candy, and that whoever it was had a daughter their age, which would be Zane's step-sister and Rikki's step-sister-inlaw. That didn't bother them until they attended the wedding and found out that the daughter was Charlotte! Zane's dad had married Charlotte's mom!

2017

This year Charlotte gets married to a guy named Christopher.

2018

Miriam returns to the Gold Coast and gets married to Nate.

2019

Charlotte has a daughter which she names Chanel.

2020

Despite their differences in the past, Kim has actually matured and isn't as spoiled, Kim and Elliot get married.

2021

Zane's dad retires from his big company and handed the job down to Zane. Rikki keeps charge at _Rikki's_, and, since Emma was a really good worker and always dreamed of running the Juicenet, she takes Zane's place and they changed the name to _R&E. _Ash kept at giving horse-riding lessons, and eventually is promoted to manager at the stables. Lewis became a proffesional doctor. Cleo and Bella now teach a pre-school class. Will started his own free-diving class.

2022

Each couple had been doing well, and by late 2022 they each decided to have kids! By the end of the year, they each figured out that they were each having 1 baby girl, and the sonogram showed that they were mermaids, good thing Lewis offered to be their personal doctor!

A/N the babies are born 2023, in the next chapter. I promise I will update ASAP.


	4. Happy Birthday!

Chapter 4: Happy Birthday!

On January 31st 2023 the babies were born! With some surprises!

Rikki gave birth to a baby mermaid girl that had blonde hair and blue eyes, just like her mother's, and a normal human boy with dark hair and brown eyes like his father. Rikki and Zane named the girl Sierra, and the boy Seth.

Emma gave birth to two baby girls. They were identical, with blonde hair and blue eyes just like their mother's. But there was one difference between them, one was a mermaid, the other was not. Emma and Ash named the mermaid girl Fawna, and the non-mermaid girl Fara.

Unlike Emma and Rikki, Cleo and Bella only had one baby girl. They figured the reason they hadn't seen the normal babies was because they were behind their mermaid twins. So Cleo gave birth to a mermaid baby girl with dark hair and brown eyes just like her mother's. When she was born she didn't cry, but giggled a little and fell asleep pretty quickly which led Cleo and Lewis to name her Dream.

Bella gave birth to a mermaid baby girl that had blond hair and blue eyes just like her mother's. Bella and Will named her Cara.

That night at the hospital was a full-moon, but in all the excitement everyone forgot about until the shining moon was seen through the windows. The girls had already fallen asleep with their children near, but by the time the full-moon was up, the boys were still up. When the moon shone through each of the windows, each sleeping newborn, mermaid or not, was lifted into the air by some unknown force and a brilliant light shone around them. After no more than a few minutes the light dimmed and the children were set gently back down to the bed, undisturbed, as everything went back to the way it was, as if the whole thing hadn't happened. But it had happened and there was no doubt in each boys' mind that it was something magical.


	5. Baby Power!

A/N Sorry this chapter took so long, I have been having a lot of writers block and have been really busy, but I promise the next chapters will come a lot faster.

Chapter 5: Baby Power!

After the boys told the girls what happened, they all were sure something magical happened to the babies. They were also thought it probably left a mark, like a power of some sort, but they weren't sure. So they decided to just wait and see if the babies ever show any sign of power. Until then, they decided to just do what had to be done, such as having the family see the babies. They were all so busy, that they all pretty much forgot about the night before.

One Night at the Bennet Residence . . .

Seth and Sierra had finally fallen asleep in their crib, so Rikki and Zane decided to get some rest before they woke up again. It was only a few hours later that Rikki woke up to, not crying, but giggling. She also saw a small bright light coming from the twin's bedroom.

"Zane," Rikki whispered into Zane's ear while nudging him to wake him up.

"What?" Zane asked sleepily.

"Did you leave a light on in the twin's room?" Rikki asked.

"No Why?" Zane asked.

"No reason," Rikki lied, " I'm just going to go check on them."

"Okay," Zane said drifting back to sleep.

Rikki walked across the hall to the twin's room where a light seemed to be flickering on and off. When she went into the room and looked over to their crib, they had to share a crib since Rikki and Zane weren't expecting to have twins, she saw something totally unexpected. Both twins were up, and breathing fire. First Seth made a blow which made sierra giggle and make a blow of her own to make Seth giggle. Rikki was so surprised she went into a daze until, not knowing the danger of fire, Sierra absent mindedly touched the orange flame coming out of her mouth, and the hotness of it was so unexpected she burst into tears causing Rikki to come out of her daze and pick up Sierra to sooth her and her now red hand. Seeing his sister in pain Seth began crying too. Zane woke up to all the noise.

"What's wrong?" he asked, Rikki showed Zane Sierra's burnt hand," What happened?"

"I'll tell you down stairs. We need to get Sierra some ice water, can you grab Seth," Rikki told Zane. Zane grabbed Seth and they both went downstairs to the kitchen. Rikki headed straight to the sink intending to turn it on to cold water and rinse sierra's hand under it, but right before she touched the faucet she remembered that she and Sierra were mermaids and getting wet would just end up with her and her daughter both lying on the floor.

"Um Zane could you " Rikki said pointing to the faucet. At first Zane was confused, he was still a bit groggy, but eventually he got to his senses and remembered.

"Oh, right. Yeah I'll take her," he said and they switched babies. SoZane turned on the faucet and ran the flowing water over Sierra's hand and held on tightly to the newly formed mermaid in his arms.

"Ok," Zane said still holding Sierra, but looking over at Rikki who was holding Seth and sitting at the kitchen table, "So what happened?"

"Well I went to the twins room to check on the twins room because I saw a light coming from there and I found them, in their crib, actually breathing fire. Then, I'm guessing out of curiosity, Sierra touched the fire and burned herself," Rikki explained, "You think this might have something to do with that full moon you told me about."

" Probably," Zane replied suddenly noticing something, total silence. He looked down at Sierra, who was actually smiling. Then he glanced at her hand, which he was still running over to find it all healed with no sign that she had ever been burned. He quickly dried Sierra off, and found her hand was still fine.

"Rikki look!" Zane said showing Rikki Sierra's hand.

"It's all healed. How is that possible?" Rikki asked looking over Sierra's hand.

"I think the water healed her. Maybe since shes a mermaid the water is taking care of her," Zane said.

"We definitely need to tell the others about this tomorrow," Rikki said, and after that little incident they all eventually got some sleep tin what was left of the night.

The Next Morning At The McCartneys' . . .

Dream woke up at 8:00 AM which is pretty unusual for a newborn, to sleep so long without waking up and crying, but Cleo and Lewis weren't complaining. Lewis went to Dream while Cleo just went down stairs and set up breakfast for her and Lewis. By the time Lewis came down to the kitchen with Dream Cleo had set up two bowls of cereal coffee for Lewis, who liked to get a fresh start before going to work which he had to leave for soon, and Cleo just had some orange juice.

Just then the phone rang, "I'll get it," Cleo said as she left to answer the phone in the living room. While she was gone Lewis decided to start eating since he had to get to work by 9:00 AM and since the hospital was about a 30 min. drive away plus traffic he needed to leave soon. Just then he noticed a small water bubble in front of his face just before it popped right on his nose. "Very funny Cleo," Lewis thought though he had not seen her come back, he could not think of any other explanation for what had just happened, then he looked at Dream. He saw that out of Dream's mouth, was drool, but as it traveled down her chin it turned into a small bubble that she would watch as if controlling it until it, or she, landed it and popped it.

Then Cleo came back. "Who was it?" Lewis asked.

"That was Rikki, she called an emergency meeting. I think something happened to Seth and Sierra," Cleo replied.

"I'm sorry I can't come," Lewis said as he got up with Dream in his arms.

"Its okay, you have to work, and I'll tell you all about it when you get home tonight." Cleo said.

"Oh, and there is something you should know, I think Dream has a power," Lewis said.

"Really? What kind?" Cleo asked curiously looking at her daughter who smiled a drool free smile back.

"I think it is just like yours, her drool turns into a bubble that she can control" Lewis explained.

" That's so cute, and I can't wait to see her do it," Cleo said taking Dream from Lewis, "Do you know how she got this power?"

"I think it has something to do with that full-moon on the night she was born," Lewis said, " Well I've got to get to work. Bye honey," he said giving Cleo a quick kiss on the lips.

"Be careful," Cleo said referring to the drive to the hospital on which he had to drive over really bumpy roads and on roads that have had many reported accidents in the past.

"Always am. Bye Dream," Lewis said kissing Dream quickly on the forehead. Then he left to go to work.

A While Later at the Dove Residence . . .

"Have a good day at work," Emma told Ash giving him one last kiss before he went off to give riding lessons. " Are you sure you don't need me here?" Ash said.

"Yes, We'll be fine," Emma said.

"Ok, I'll be back at 6:00 PM," Ash said.

" I know. Know go, or you will be late for work," Emma said as Ash left the house, got into the car, and drove off to work. Emma went upstairs to the twins room. She got each dressed and put them into their carriers. She set them down on the kitchen floor while she folded laundry on the kitchen table. She heard a small sneeze come from Fawna, but she didn't think much of it. Then the phone rang, and as she got up to go get it, she realized she couldn't move her feet. She looked down at her feet to see they were covered in ice. She knew she couldn't have done, and as if to prove that Fara blew a small wind which froze the leg of the table. The phone continued to ring, but Emma couldn't answer it. Once it died down there was a silence before her cell phone also began to ring, unfortunately, she had left it in her purse which she had left on the diningroom table. She sat back onto the chair and continued to do the laundry, thinking the only way to get out of it would be to waaat for Ash to come home or the ice to melt, but by the looks of it, that could take a while . . .


	6. The Meeting

Chapter 6: The Meeting

Every body was at Rikki and Zane's house for the meeting, except Emma who couldn't be reached, and their husbands who were all at work.

"So why did you call us all here?" Bella asked while gently rocking Cara in her carrier. "Well I have something really important to tell you guys, but it just doesn't feel right to tell you guys without Emma," Rikki said, Sierra and Seth were sucking on pacifiers in their carriers next to her.

"Did you try her cell?" Cleo asked, she was holding Dream who was asleep

"I tried everything, she's just not answering," Rikki replied.

"She must be really busy," Bella said.

"I guess we should just have the meeting and tell her what we have learned later," Cleo said.

"Okay, well last night the twins woke up in the middle of the night and I saw them breathing fire," Rikki said.

"Wow," Bella said, "Isn't that kinda dangerous?"

"Yeah, Sierra even burnt her finger trying to touch the flame," Rikki said.

"Her fingers look fine now," Bella said looking at Sierra's fingers.

" That's another thing I wanted to tell you guys, once Zane washed the burn, her skin healed. Like the water itself had healed her," Rikki explained.

"Maybe because we are mermaids the water is protecting our children, possibly at least until they can take care of themselves," Cleo said.

" I guess we'll find out the next time one of them gets hurt, and lets hope nothing happens too soon, " Bella said, But back to the power, Cara hasn't shown any sign of a power," Bella looked down at her lovely baby girl as she slept with little trails of drool came out of her mouth and trailed onto her bib.

"OMG, I just remembered. This morning Lewis said he saw Dream blowing spit bubbles and he said she seemed to be controlling them," Cleo said.

"These powers sounds like your powers," Bella said.

"That's what Lewis said. Do you guys think that maybe this has something to do with that full moon?" Cleo said.

"Yeah definitely," Rikki said, "The full moon is how we got our powers."

"True," Cleo said, "But our powers are activated through our hands, theirs are activated by their mouths."

"Oh, that makes sense," Bella said as she reached down towards Cara.

"What makes sense?" Rikki asked watching as Bella took off Cara's bib and showed it to Rikki and Cleo. On the bib where small splotches of drool, but they weren't liquid, they seemed to be in more of a jelly form.

" I thought she just had thick spit, but her having my power and activating it through her mouth makes much more sense," Bella said laughing and the others joined her. After that there was a moment of silence in which no one knew what to say when Rikki realized something. "Hey do you guys really think Emma is busy?" Rikki asked.

"She must be, right? I mean, she's not answering her phone or anything," Bella said.

"Well I was thinking, if our children are able to do our powers by accident since they have no control of them, then do you think that maybe-" Rikki said.

"Her children froze her!" Cleo said finishing Rikki's sentence.

"If that's true, then we need to get to her as quick as possible who knows how much power they are capable of," Bella said. Then they all got up, grabbed the babies, and got in their cars to drive to Emma's house hoping that she wasn't in to much trouble.

At Emma's House . . .

I've been sitting here for hours and all I could do was think about all the things I had to do but couldn't. There would be times when Fara or Fawna would cry because they needed something, and luckily they were close enough that I could pick them up to feed them or rock them, and luckily I kept diaper changing supplies in the back of their carriers in case of an emergency in which I do not have their diaper bag, like right now. But for now they're fast asleep, so I guess it's around noon. "Six more hours," I whispered to myself. I was not sure I could keep up with this any longer and then, for the millionth time, I tried to pull up my feet to see if the ice was thawing, no luck. My feet are getting number and number, that can't be good, I try to keep them warm by trying to move them and rubbing my hands over the ice.

Just then I heard cars pull up. Doors slam. And finally, footsteps coming up to the door. Then the doorbell rang.

"Who is it?" Emma yelled at the closed door, happy that there may be someone out there who could help her, but at the same time scared that it might be someone really important that doesn't know the secret.

"Emma?" Rikki called into the house.

"Yes," Emma replied and then heard a sure sigh of relief.

"It's me, Rikki, and Cleo and Bella, are you all right?" Rikki called.

"Kinda Sorta," Emma replied.

"What does that mean?" Bella asked.

"Could you open the door?" Cleo asked.

"It means, yeah I am a little bit in trouble. And no, I cant open the door because that trouble is that my feet are frozen in place," Emma replied.

"Is there anyway we can get in there to you?" Rikki sked.

Emma dug into her pocket and pulled out her house key and placed it into the mailbox which was built into the house right by the door. "I put my keys in the mailbox." Emma told them. They took the keys and opened the door.

Once inside Cleo and Rikki did exactly what they had done to Mirriam to melt the ice. Then they filled Emma in on what they talked about at the meeting and they concluded that their children had inherited their powers, even the non-mermaids, and that water is protecting them from hurting themselves with their powers since they had no control over their powers. Then, that night, they all filled their husbands in on the days events, as they got the babies to go to sleep, hoping they would be able to protect their babies from exposing themselves and the secret. Especially from family that couldn't get enough of them.


	7. Meeting the Family

Chapter 7

Meeting the family

**Dinner with the grandparents**

It's been about a week since they had found out about the babies powers and now Zane's father had planned a family dinner that included the family of his son and stepdaughter. This include: Zane's dad, Zane's step-mother, Zane, Rikki, Rikki's dad, Sierra and Seth, Charlotte, Christopher, and now 4 year-old Chanel (Christopher's parents were very rich and very busy and could not make it. They couldn't even make it to their wedding!) They all met at Zane's dad's mansion.

Rikki and Zane were the last to arrive since they had to make sure they had everything for the babies, and once they got there both the grandpa's were cooing over the babies, but the Grandma looked disgusted, but only Charlotte noticed. "What's wrong mom?" Charlotte asked. "What's wrong? Those _babies _are taking the spotlight away from our little angel Chanel. You've got to make them look bad, messy sloppy," Charlotte's mom answered.

"But mom, they're babies, anything they do is cute," Charlotte explained.

"Then make Chanel look cuter! I don't care how you do it, just make Chanel the most loved Grandchild!" Charlotte's mom said then walked away leaving her daughter to think about what to do.

Charlotte could only think of two things that could make a baby seem less cute, a smelly diaper, and one that won't stop crying. She knew she couldn't make them poo, so she had to think of a way to make them cry enough that it will annoy everyone else. Charlotte thought all the way to the restraint, as they chose to eat at a fancy place in town and booked the whole place so it would be just like they weren't at a restaurant, and finally got it. She had noticed a pacifier in each babies' mouth and she knew that if she took out the pacifier they would cry until they got another one.

So once they got there they got into a booth, Charlotte got a seat right next to Sierra, and on the other side of Sierra was Rikki, then Seth, then Zane, and next to Charlotte on the other side was Chanel, Charlotte's mom, Christopher, Zane's dad, and Rikki's dad. They started to talk about how Zane's company was doing and how work was going for Christopher and Rikki's dad. Charlotte and Rikki weren't really paying attention though, and of course neither was Chanel, who was scribbling on a kids menu or Seth and Sierra who couldn't understand what they were saying anyway. Rikki was making sure the twins were okay and didn't get too fussy so they wouldn't accidently use their powers in front of everyone and Charlotte was secretly watching and waiting for a chance to make the twins fussy. Eventually Charlotte's mom took a break from the conversation, as she noticed nothing going on and saw what was happening and decided to create a diversion by asking Rikki a direct question. "So, Rikki," Charlotte's mom asked making Rikki jump a little at suddenly being talked to directly, "how is your job or business or whatever doing?" Rikki answered by telling her very bluntly that she owned a restaurant that was doing fine, but it was still enough time for Charlotte to grab the pacifier out of the sound asleep Sierra's small lips, causing her to wake at the sudden loss of something to suck and cry for it back. Charlotte hid the pacifier in her back pocket hoping there was nothing that could cheer Sierra up again, but luckily she was wrong, once Rikki heard one cry out of Sierra, instead of looking on the floor for the missing pacifier first like other mothers would do, she pulled out a warm bottle from the baby bag she had brought and held Sierra while feeding her the bottle. Charlotte's mom gave her a devious look, but Charlotte just whispered, "She can't suck on a bottle forever. "Once the bottle was done Sierra was already back asleep and had a new pacifier in her mouth.

Charlotte just sat there very disappointed as they finally got the check, Chanel was asleep by then with her head in Charlotte's lap, that's when she noticed the glass of water (they had been served water before they ordered) in front of Rikki that had been barely touched. 'It's so obvious! Why didn't I think of it before!' Charlotte thought, 'who would think the children of their son who married a freak would be cuter than the children of their entirely normal step-daughter.' It was simple, all she had to do was make Rikki wet, if she did it enough, Rikki wouldn't have time to use her power before the transformation.

So, seeing as Zane was wearing a suit, she reached over pretending to be pointing at his tie "Hey Zane, is that a new tie?" But as she reached she 'accidently' knocked the glass of water spilling the contents all over Rikki! Rikki's face went pale as a ghost as she tried to dry off all the water, but there was too much! "Oh sorry, my bad," Charlotte said with totally fake sincerity." 'Zane tried to help, but Seth was in between them and there was no way to get out of the booth in time, and suddenly, the 10 seconds were up and she sat there as she turned into a mermaid in front of everyone. Everyone just stared in shock, except Charlotte of course, and Zane was in shock because he was trying to think of something to do. Without hesitating though, Rikki dried herself off as quick as she could and sat at the edge of her seat ready to push Zane out of the way if needed, as she waited there for someone to say something, she knew she couldn't just leave all these people who now knew her secret, but she was scared of how they were going to react. Rikki expected someone to call a scientist and exploit her or someone, but the first one to talk was Charlotte's mom and it wasn't into the phone. "For goodness sakes honey, I thought your son had more sense than that, of all the perfectly fine young women, he chooses the one who is part fish!" she spat at Zane's dad. "Hey! That's my daughter you are talking about, and even if she may be part fish, she's got a lot more grace than your daughter over there who had to spill the water all over her in the first place!" Rikki's dad yelled at Charlotte's mom. It comforted Rikki that her dad had stood up for her, and also kind of made her regret not telling him years ago, but it gave her strength to know that he didn't care that she was a mermaid.

The two kept a screaming fight going, of which woke up Seth and Sierra, but did not cause them to cry. While they were fighting Zane's dad started to talk to Zane and Rikki. "Rikki, I thought you lost your powers?" He asked. Thinking of the time he discovered Rikki, Cleo, and Emma with Dr. Denman.

"So did I," Rikki said finally finding her voice, "but it was only temporary," she finished scared of what Mr. Bennet was going to do with this information.

"Dad, please don't call Dr. Denman, " Zane pleaded.

"No, don't worry, I've learned my lesson with that woman, I'll put your needs ahead of anything else, so basically your secret, Rikki, is safe with me, because love between you two to be able to keep that secret so long, has to be much greater than any amount of money she could give me," Mr. Bennet said. "Thanks so much Mr. Bennet," Rikki said sounding totally relieved. "Anytime," he said.

Then, noticing the twins slight discomfort as they started to get fussy since they couldn't fall back to sleep, Zane's dad suggested they go home, saying that he would calm the two arguing adults down and they would head home soon after.

"Well that was a relief," Zane said as he drove.

"Definitely, I always thought your dad didn't like me," Rikki said.

"He used to, but that was when he was all about money, but after that thing with Denman he began to be more about family than money," Zane said. "That's good, at least we can trust him," Rikki said.

"Yeah," Zane replied.

Once they got to their own mansion, Rikki and Zane put Seth and Sierra into their beds, and kissed them goodnight. Then they went back to their own bedroom and got ready for bed. They kissed each other goodnight and turned out the light as they fell asleep.

Then, in the middle of the night two men in totally white uniforms used a key and unlocked the door and got into they house. They crept up to Rikki and Zane's room without making any noise. Then Rikki woke at the sudden feeling of being wet and turning into a mermaid! Only to be held down by one man and injected by the other man with a strange liquid, that made everything in her vision go black!

**Who were these men? How did they get into their house? Why did they go to their house? Find out in the next chapter of Life After Tentacle.**

**A/N Sorry it has been soo long since I have updated, but I have been really busy since school just started with so much homework, and I can't promise my chapters will get updated really often, but I do promise that I will get them done as soon as possible.**


	8. Family Values

Chapter 8

Family Values

Zane's P.O.V.

I woke up the next morning to the sound of a baby crying, I reached over to wake up Rikki, I had woken up early the night before, but instead I just felt a wet spot on the bed. At first I didn't think much of it, and just thought she was downstairs already, and I had actually woken up late, so I got up got dressed and went to check on the twins. Except, when I got there Sierra was gone! And the reason Seth was crying was because his twin sister was missing! I picked up Seth and tried to calm him down as I tried to find Rikki, I checked every room in the house, which was hard since we live in a mansion, but she wasn't anywhere! That's when it hit me, Seth's pajamas were wet! Not like he peed or anything, it was all over the front of him, then I remembered the water on our bed, and I went upstairs back to the twins room to fid that, sure enough, there was water in the crib. This could only mean one thing, someone had leaked the secret and someone had kidnapped my wife and daughter, but who leaked it?

I called Rikki's cell, but heard it ring from the purse that she had worn yesterday that rested in their room. Then I called Cleo, Emma, and Bella's houses to see if they knew anything, also to see if anything had happened to them, but they all answered, so it couldn't have been any of them who leaked. it must have been someone who found out last night. It obviously wasn't Chanel, she was sleeping, Or Rikki's dad, why would he do that to his daughter? Or my dad, he promised he wouldn't, and he has never broken a promise. That only leaves 3 people, Charlotte, Christopher, and my stepmom. But Christopher listens to Charlotte and none of the windows were broken o the only way to get in was a key which they don't have. So it had to be Charlotte's mom, she gave the key that we had given my dad to scientists and told them about Rikki, then they snuck in the house in the night and checked that Rikki was a mermaid and check the kids and took Sierra along with Rikki. In a rage Zane called his old house, his dad picked up, "Hey Zane, whats up," dad asked. "Whats up? I'll tell you whats up! My wife and child are missin and I know its cause of that evil Bitch you make me call mom!" I shouted, letting the words release his anger through the phone. "Wait Zane, calm down, I can't understand you," Mr. Bennet said through the phone and then waited until he heard me take a deep breath, "okay, now tell me what happened."

"Last night after you went to bed your wife called some scientists and told them about Rikki, she gave them the keys and they came in, checked that Rikki was a mermaid by spraying her with water, and carried her away," I said, still sounding angry, he did have every right to be, "Oh, and I guess she told them our children were to because Sierra is gone as well."

"Is she a mermaid too?" Dad asked.

"Yes, she was born a mermaid," I said.

"Okay, she went to work already, now I can see why she left earlier than usual, I'll call her and ask her about it, then I'll call you back later, okay?" Dad asked.

"Okay," I said, then hung up the phone just in time to hear the doorbell ring.

Sierra's P.O.V.

I woke up in a small car-seat like I usually do when I go to work with mommy, except this time I wasn't in a very colorful place like the resteraunt, the walls were all wet. In front of me I noticed a big tank of water, and at the bottom of it was mommy! Except she had an orange tail instead of legs like I did when I took a bath, yeah I'm just like mommy! Except, mommy didn't look too happy, she didn't even seem to notice I was awake. Seeing mommy sad made me sad too, so I began to cry, as loud as I could. That made mommy notice me, but instead of coming to comfort me like she usually did, she tried to talk through the bush making a sign that said to be quiet, it seemed like she couldn't get out and when I looked at the top of the tank I saw a lid, and seeing that my momy was trapped just made me cry even more, I couldn't help myself.

Just then she entered, it's not like she was ugly or anything, its just that she had this sort of evil aura around her and I didn't like that one bit. But the worst part is tha she came over and picked me up! The nerve of her! She's not my mommy, she has no right! Then I heard the strange lady talk to my mommy.

"Well Rikki, we meet again, I guess you and your friends were lying to me when you said you lost your powers. I see my men also brought your daughter too, I guess she's a mermaid too, and a very loud one at that, I guess she wants her mother. Of course though I can't just give her to you without anything in return we'll have to make a deal," The evil lady said while holding me. Though I can hear what people say, I don't really understand unless it is baby talk. Then with a click of the evil lady's fingers two men came in they weren't evil, but I could tell they were working for the evil lady, they went straight to the tank and with the evil lady's orders, took the lid off the tank. Yeah, they were letting mommy out! I stopped crying. But mommy didn't come out, but she did swim to the top of the tank. "What do you want Denmen?" mommy asked the evil lady.

"What do I want? Will I want fame and fortune, who doesn't? But you know what I need to get that fame and fortune? I need you. I need your mermaidness, your powers, your tail, everything!" The evil lady said evilly.

"And what makes you think I will give that to you?" Mommy asked.

"I'm not giving you a choice Rikki, its either you or her," Evil lady said talking about me.

"Fine, just take me, leave Sierra alone," Rikki said.

"How nice you are to give yourself for this young girl, but there is also some questions you need to answer in order to make me even think of leaving Sierra alone," Evil lady said with evil smile.

"What do you want to know?" Mommy asked.

"Where are the others? Are the still mermaids too? Why did you lie to me?" Evil lady shouted.

"They moved. No I'm the only one. I didn't lie I thought I really did lose my powers," Mommy answered sincerely.

"I think you are lying to me," Evil lady said.

After this I was too mad at evil lady, why won't she release mommy? I began to cry again this time even worser than before and once evil lady set me down I did something I have never done before, I hurt her, I burned her with my fire breath. I burnt her face, upper body, and hands, now she was the one crying, but they weren't sad tears like mine, they were tears of anger and pain. "Get that brat you stupid men!" Evil lady shouted as one of the henchmen picked her up, another came over to pick me up, I burnt his hands, after that no one else approached me. They were all running out of the room, one was carrying evil lady, and I smelled smoke, part of my fire breath had caught on the ceiling and now the building was burning down! Mommy and I were trapped! Suddenly I caught a glimpse of a red button and I scooted my chair over to it and pressed it, as I did the tank lowered, of course the water came out, put most of it had already evaporated because of the heat. Mommy was free! She dried herself and the water on the floor, then she ran over to me picked me up, and ran, carrying me to the nearest exit and we made it out just before the fire broke a gas tank causing a great explosion right behind us.

Even though we were free from the fire, we weren't from evil lady. Just around the corner, evil lady was being put into an ambulance. There were fire trucks using giant hoses trying to diminish the fire and luckily succeeding little by little. Mommy carried me around the back and ran for a very long time, so long that I thought we must be miles away from the building, but I don't know for sure. Then we entered a local diner and took a seat and mommy quickly asked the lady at the table next to us if she could use her phone. After some convincing the lady consented and handed her phone to mum.

Zane's P.O.V.

My dad called later saying he couldn't get a hold of her, so I decided to call the others. They came within 10 minutes. I told them the stories of last night and they discussed possibilities, I was too worried to even think about that. What if Rikki's hurt? What if Sierra's hurt? What should I do? Should I run randomly and hope I run into her? Just then the phone rang and a random number came up on the caller ID, I answered it all the same hoping it was Rikki or even Dr. Denman so I would have something I could use to trace to her location.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Zane, it's me," came the breathless but very familiar voice from the other line, I was so relieved.

"Rikki, where are you? What happened? Are you and Sierra alright?" I asked.

"We just escaped them, it was Denman and some henchmen, we're fine, Denman's not. I'm pretty sure we lost them, but I do not know our exact location." Rikki replied through the phone.

"That's okay as long as you and Sierra are alright," Zane said calming down, by now everyone in the room was trying to listen in, "Can you tell me where you're near?"

"No Zane, they might have followed me here, meet me at Mako. Bye." Rikki said.

I didn't want to waste any time, I told the others where I was going and left, taking Seth with me.

Rikki's P.O.V.

Once I saw them enter the diner, I knew we had to get out of there. I quickly said goodbye to Zane saying I'll meet him at Mako Island, if only I knew how to get there. I quickly handed the phone back to the lady I had borrowed it from, thanking her for letting me use it. Then I ran through another door in the diner hoping to get away without being detected, but they spotted me. I heard them call after me but I just ran faster. Eventually I found a beach that wasn't very crowded and I ran in with Sierra. In the water I speed swam while holding on tightly to Sierra, until I found some familiar surroundings, then I was able to find my way to the moon pool. There I saw Zane and Seth and we had a joyous reunion filled with hugs and kisses. And I hope that nothing as bad as this ever happens again.

No one's P.O.V.

By the time they got her to the hospital, Denman was dead. The doctors and police say it was in the fire that must have been caused by some unknown source, it was ruled an accident, but only the henchmen knew that it was in fact, murder.


	9. School

Going to School

At age 3 the kids started pre-school at Cleo and Bella's pre-school. They all became really good friends, and they even went on swims together, of course it wasn't in the big wide ocean, they were too young for that, they swam in an indoor pool located in the basement of Rikki and Zane's mansion, it had no windows so no one could peak in, and the pool was almost the whole basement. They enrolled Seth and Fara in Will's swim school, plus he gave them extra lessons on techniques he used to breath long when he was a diver, so they could swim with their siblings and friends.

As they grew up their parents made sure they never saw another full moon, but once they were in 3rd grade, the children began to wonder why. They got an assignment to watch the stages of the moon for one month, but once the night of the full moon came, their parents wouldn't let them look. Instead, they drew a circle as the moon on their sheet and told them that was what a full moon looked like, ad when they asked why they wouldn't let them see the actual full moon, they replied that something bad would happen and someone could get hurt. Of course the kids didn't understand this and decided to use their cell phones (I believe that by this time practically everyone will have cell phones) to call each other and discuss this.

Fawna's P.O.V.

I was in my room that I share with my sister Fara. I called my bffs Dream, Cara, Sierra, and Seth (Sierra and Seth have two different rooms so I had to call both) and I put it on speaker so Fara could hear.

"So I don't get it, why won't our parents let us see the moon? What will happen?"Cara asked.

"My mom said something bad would happen," Dream said.

"Our mom said the same thing, but how do we know they are not lying?" Fara said.

"Why would they lie?' I asked her.

"I know why, maybe they just want to scare us so that when we are older we won't go to late night parties on full moons or maybe they know some werewolves that come out at night. Either way I say we check it out, see if what they say is true or not. What is the worst that could happen?" Sierra asked.

"Yeah, what could be so bad about a moon? It's not like any of us are werewolves." Seth areed.

"I don't know guys, my mom said someone could get hurt, I don't want anyone to get hurt," Dream said being, as usual, a worry wart.

"It is just the moon, if we see something bad is about to happen we could just go inside," Sierra said.

"True, but why don't we just ask them what they mean tomorrow," Fawna suggested.

"Tomorrows too late, I want to know now, and I'm going to find out wether you guys want to or not. See you tomorrow, bye." Sierra said, then hung up.

"I'll go with her, bye guys, see ya tomorrow," Seth said, then he too, hung up.

"I'm gonna go too, see you guys tomorrow," Cara said hanging up as well.

"Come on Dream, you can just take one quick peak, that is not long enough for a werewolf to get you," I told her.

"Your right, I guess I'll just take one quick peak. See you tomorrow Fara and Fawna," Dream said.

"See ya Dream," Fara and I said at the same time, then we both hung up and I snuck downstairs with Fara to the front door, mom and dad were already sleeping. Then Fara opened the door to reveal the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, the full moon.

Fara's P.O.V.

Once we got out I took a look at the moon, it was beautiful.

"Isn't it beautiful Fawna?" I asked, but she didn't answer and I looked over at her and she seemed to be in a trance, "sis?" I said waving my hand in front of her face, her eyes seemed to be stuck on the moon. Then she finally turned her head to me, "It's calling us, we must go to the moon pool on Mako Island," she said in a transe-like voice.

"Whats a moon pool?" Iasked, I've never heard of one.

"I'll lead you there," Fawna said, "the others will join us there."

"Fawna, how are we going to get there? Mako Island is in the middle of the ocean, and we can't drive a boat," I said.

"We swim," She replied smiling, and before I could argue, she grabbed my hand and pulled me into the ocean, then dragging me as she swam at a super speed through the water, and we ended up in a sort of cave that had an opening at the top, like a volcano. All I could think about was, how did she swim that fast, our mom never showed her how, and how did she know where this "moon pool" was? Then suddenly Sierra cae up with Seth and he took deep breaths of air like he couldn't breathe for a long to time, Will always said I could hold my breath longer because my mother was a professional swimmer before she turned into a mermaid. Then Dream and Cara came up, the weirdest thing was that they were all, except Seth and me, looking at the sky through the opening like they expected something to happen.

"Do you know what is going on?" I asked Seth. He just shook his head in response. Then the full moon came over the opening and covered it and the water in the pool began to bubble and swirl, it was beautiful, it was magical, and it was over once the moon passed over the opening. Then we all went home and to bed like nothing ever happened, but I had a feeling that we were going to discuss this tomorrow at school.

The Next Day

When we woke up the next morning I tried to talk to Fawna about the full moon, but she didn't seem to want to talk about it, either that or she didn't remember it, but she was right there, how could she forget such an eventful night? Then I heard her say 'Must have been another one of Fara's crazy dreams,' and I replied, 'my dreams are not crazy and what happened last night was real!"

"I didn't say anything," Fawna replied.

'Liar!' I thought.

"I am not a liar!" Fawna said.

I didn't say that, I thought it," I replied.

'I thought the part about your dreams being crazy, we must have some kind of psychic connection,' Fawna thought.

'That is so cool! We can help each other in class and everything! This must have something to do with what happened last night!' I thought back.

'What did happen last night? All I can remember is seeing the moon, the rest is a blank," Fawna thought.

'You dragged me to a pool on Mako Island that you called a moon pool. The others were there too. Just as the moon passed over the opening something to magical to really explain,' explained.

'Sounds cool, wish I could remember. Do you think that is the reason mom and dad won't let us see a full moon?' Fawna asked.

'It doesn't make sense, but there is only one way to find out,' I thought. Then, and as if on cue dad walked in. "Hi dad, why can't we see the full moon?" I asked in my sweet little girls voice.

"You really want to know?" dad asked.

"Yeah," me and Fawna said together.

"Okay, but don't tell your mom I told you, she thinks that if you are told you will deliberately go out just to prove us wrong. You see, when a mermaid sees the moon, they become what we call "moonstruck' in which the moon controls the mermaids mind making them do crazy things that could actually hurt someone, sometimes the moon even gives new powers or even takes away all powers, depending on the night. In fact, the full moon is what caused your mom and her friends and all other mermaids to become mermaids, but the older mermaids lost their powers from another full moon before they had kids," dad said, "Oh, and the next day the mermaid forgets everything they did the previous night."

'That explains it,' I thought.

"Remember, this is our little secret," dad said.

"Got it," Fawna and I said.

'I can't wait to tell the others at school!' I thought.

At School

As soon as we got to school I went straight over to my desk right next to Sierra and I told her everything. She said that her and her brother Seth had also had found a psychic connection as well, but when we tried it didn't work. Then the teacher began the lesson and we both quieted down.

Finally after what seemed way longer than it supposedly was, lunch time came and I sat at my regular table with Fawna, Sierra, Seth, Cara and Dream. While we ate we talked about what happened last night and Dream talked about a dream she had last night. She dreamed that our teacher Ms. Hollor, her favorite teacher, was walking around to check that we were doing our work when she tripped over a chair leg and fell hard to the tile floor, hitting her head on a ledge nearby on her way down, there was blood everywhere and no one knew what to do until a teacher peaked in to see why we were so quiet. That teacher called an ambulance, told the teacher of the instance and called each of our parents to pick us up early and we didn't have school for the rest of the day, however, Ms. Hollor got a concussion, stitches in her head, and a severely broken arm. We assured her that that is very unlikely and after recess we went back to class. Then, while we were working on a social studies sheet, Dream's dream came true, every part, and by the time we got back home, me and my sister realized that Dream must be psychic. But there is still the question as to what Cara's power may be, and if Dream got her own unique power then why did me, my sister, Sierra, and Seth get the same thing but only with our twin? Is there more to this? Should we tell our parents? I don't know the answers, but I do know that we have a lot to discuss tomorrow.

A/N I know the story has been kind of all over lately, but I promise know it will be on one track. This story will be on their powers and there will be several sequals each focusing on one of the kids and something they go through.


	10. More Power

A/N I know in the previous chapter thoughts were in ' ' but in this chapter thoughts are _Italicized _so in future stories the thoughts will be in either of the two.

Power Power Power

Cara's P.O.V.

Why did everyone else get a cool power and I didn't? According to Seth and Fara I was there too so why didn't I get a power? Maybe I do have a power, I just don't know it! Ok, here it goes, I'll try all the different hand movements I was taught and see if that works. It didn't. I was just about to give up when I heard my cell phone ring, it was Sierra.

"Hi Cara, we all are going over to Dream's house tonight to talk about you know what, so can you come too?" Sierra asked.

"Why?" I replied sadly, "It's not like I have any new powers or anything."

"You are still our friend, and you were there last night so you probably have a power, you just don't know what it is yet," Sierra replied reassuringly.

"Ok, just let me ask my mom,' I said, and away from the phone I yelled, "Mom! Can I go to Dream's house?" _Say yes. Say yes. Please say yes!_

"Yes," mom replied. _Really? Did she just say yes? I mean usually she says alright but don't be home late, not just a simple "yes" . . . Maybe I made her say it! Maybe my power is mind control and me thinking 'say yes' made her say yes! I better try it on dad to make sure._

I decided the best way to know if it worked was to ask my dad to get me a soda, he was a real healthy person and would never give me any kind of junk food if I asked for it. Luckily I found him right in the kitchen reading some free-diving magazine.

"Hey dad, can you go get me a soda?" _Get me a soda. Get me a soda._ He started off with an astounded look on his face knowing that I knew his answer was no, but then he got up, went to the refrigerator, grabbed a soda, and brought it to me! "Here you go," dad said.

"Thanks," I replied as I grabbed the soda and ran away worried he would notice what he did. Then, once I was out of the house, I opened the can and drank gratefully. I can't wait to tell the others!

At Dream's House

"Okay, so what should we start talking about first?" Fawna said, as usual, taking charge.

"New powers!" I said right away, this is my chance. They all looked at me like I was crazy, I guess they thought I would be the one who didn't want to talk about that since they didn't think I got any powers.

"Okay, what about our new powers do you want to talk about Cara?" Fawna asked.

"I think I found mine!" I said excitedly.

"Well what are you waiting for? Show us!" Fara said.

"Ok," I said standing up in front of them," First I'll need a volunteer from the audience."

"I'll do it," Sierra said as she walked up to the front where I was standing.

"Ok, what is the one thing you would never consciously do?" I asked her.

"Um. . ." Sierra thought, "I would never do a favor for Seth."

That was one thing I knew she would never do, her and her brother almost never got along unless they had to.

"Ok, Seth, ask Sierra to do something for you," I told him, he was gonna have fun with this.

"ok, Sierra, give me a foot massage," Seth said.

"Eww, no way!" Sierra said disgusted. That is really gross, but I guess I'll make her do it anyway. _Give Seth a foot massage. Give Seth a foot massage. Give Seth a foot massage. _I was directing my thoughts to Sierra and once I was done, she was walking over to the chair that Seth was sitting on with a dazed look on her face, got down on the ground, and gave him a foot massage.

"Wow," the others said in amazement.

"This feels so good, but it is so weird at the same time." Seth said. Then once I thought he had had enough, I ended it. _Stop! Stop! Stop!_ Then Sierra came out of the trancelike state, saw what she was doing, hit his feet away, shouted "Eww! Gross!" and moved as far away from Seth as possible. "Sorry," I said, "That's what he asked for."

"How did you do that?" Sierra said after giving Seth a long glare.

"I think my power is mind control!" I said.

"Cool, but don't ever make me do that again. Or there will be consequences." Sierra said.

"Oh, don't worry, that was merely a demonstration, It'll never happen again," I replied.

Then I looked over a Dream and she seemed sad. "What's wrong?" I asked walking up to her, the others were talking about powers and such.

"I'm still sad about what happened to Ms. Hollor," Dream replied, "I told my mom and dad about it, and they said she was going to be ok and that we can visit her, but I'm still worried about her." I actually forgot about Ms. Hollor, I was too excited about my new powers, but I can see why Dream is the most upset, Ms. Hollor was her favorite teacher and she saw the accident coming. So I decided to try to comfort her.

"The doctors said she was fine. We'll have a sub for a few weeks, but then she'll be back and everything will go back to normal," I said.

"Promise?" She asked.

"Promise," I replied.

"I guess you are right," Dream said.

"Of course I'm right. Now let's go join the others before we miss something important," I said, then we both went over to the group and joined the conversation on all the different things we'll be able to do with our new powers.

The Next Day

Sierra's P.O.V.

I wish I got some cool power like Dream and Cara, but al I got was telepathy with my brother. And Fara and Fawna have the same thing! I just wish there was some power that I didn't have to share with my brother, besides being a mermaid, but it would be totally hilarious to see him in a scaly bra :D. Speaking of my brother, he is still in bed, he stayed up late playing some game on the computer that he would supposedly fail if he even took a 1 minute brake. I'm not sure how long he stayed awake, but I was able to draw a fake mustache and thicken his eye-brows without him even stirring, then I got bored and went downstairs where mom was making breakfast. Dad must have left for work already, the only days he doesn't work are Sundays.

"Hey," I said sitting down at the kitchen table.

"Hi, what do you want for breakfast?" Mom asked.

"I'll just have scrambled eggs and toast," I said, knowing that she probably already made it, it's what I have for breakfast like every morning for breakfast when I don't have school.

_The usual, just like I thought _Rikki thought bringing Sierra's breakfast to the table.

"Why would you think any different?" Sierra replied to her mom's thoughts.

"What?" Rikki replied, knowing she hadn't said anything.

"You just said you knew I would take the usual, and I replied why you would think any different," Sierra replied, replaying the conversation she thought they had.

"No, I didn't say that, I thought it," Rikki replied.

"Really, I must be some kind of mind reader," Sierra said sarcastically like it was probably just a one time thing, when inside, she really hoped it wasn't.

"Hey mom," Sierra said, "Do you mind if I go over to Fawna's house?" Fawna and Fara just lived right across the street

"Yeah, sure," Rikki said _I just hope Emma doesn't mind._

"Oh, she won't, Mrs. Dove said I could come over anytime I like, and I have something really important to tell her," Sierra explained, "So I'll see you later." Then Sierra left, leaving a confused Rikki, and a brother who just woke up looking like Super Mario.

Across the Street

Fawna's P.O.V.

Sierra burst through the my door like a HURRICANE!

"Fawna! Fawna! I found my power!" she exclaimed.

"What?"

"My power Fawna! The kind that I don't have to share with Seth!"

"that's great!"

"I know!"

"What can you do?"

"Think about something like a question or anything!"

"Ok…?"

_I wonder what the heck she's talking about._

"I am talking about my power!"

"How did you do that?"

"I am a mind reader!"

"That's so cool!"

"We should have a meeting with the others to talk about it."

"Ok. We'll call them later. In the mean time, would you like to have some of my mom's homemade cookies with milk?"

"Sure! I love your mom's cookies!"

So they both went down to the kitchen.

"Hey," Sierra said, "Where is Fara?"

"Oh, she went with dad to work, she loves horses," Fawna replied.

"Why didn't you go?" Sierra asked.

"They left before I woke up," I replied.

When we finally got to the kitchen mom was already putting away the cookies.

"Mom, can we have cookies?" I asked.

"You can have some for dessert after dinner, but not right now," She answered.

"Aww, come on, Sierra won't be here after dinner," I explained.

"Fine you can each have one cookie, but no more," mom said.

"Okay," I said and she gave us each a cookie, then put the cookie plate on top of the fridge, too high for neither me nor Sierra could reach even if we were standing on a chair.

"I'm going to work do you guys want to come, or do you think you'll be okay here?" Mom asked.

"We'll be fine mom," I assured her.

"Well, if you need anything you know where to find me," mom said leaving.

Our moms' restaurant is just a couple blocks away, and we have known the way there as long as I can remember, so our moms are okay with leaving us home. It also helps that this is a pretty criminal free neighborhood.

"I want more cookies!" I complained once mom was gone.

"But we can't reach it," Sierra said.

"I know," I said, " It's so sad."

"Not really," Sierra said, "you guys have other food in this house don't you?"

She just didn't get it, my parents barely let me or Fara have junk food, cookies are like gold to us! So I just laid down my head and day dreamed about cookies flying off the plate on the refrigerator and forming a pile in front of me. Then they suddenly started saying my name, "Fawna, Fawna, Fawna," and I opened my eyes to find out it was just Sierra calling me out of my day-dream, I really wish she hadn't!

"What?" I replied, she looked really awed by something, and as I looked around I realized why. In front of me, there was a tall stack of cookies! It wasn't all the cookies, but it was a lot.

"Did you do that?" I asked happy and mad at the same time, happy because of cookies, but mad that Sierra might just have another power.

"No, I think you did!" Sierra exclaimed.

"Really?" I asked thinking of my day-dream, then I decide to try it again, this time with my eyes, and mouth, open. I used my mind and thought about a picture of a cookie flying in the air, and the top cookie was lifted off the pile by an unknown force! Then I picked up the cookie and ate it, it was good!

"I guess you found your power," Sierra said.

"I guess so," I replied, "we really need to tell the others."

"Maybe tomorrow, right now lets just eat these cookies!"

A/N I haven't gotten a review in a long time and I was just hoping you could review just so I know what you think of it :D. Also the part when Sierra gets to Fawna's house up to "Sure! I love your mom's cookies!" are written by my little sister, who while reading over my story decided to add a next part. Again, please review :D!


	11. Important Too

**A/N Thank you to all of my reviewers :), it really is good to know that you guys like the story! I know it has been a long time since I updated, but I have been getting a lot of homework in school :( and just haven't really had the time until now. Now I know there has been confusion as to whether Seth and Fara became merpeople or not, and the answer I decided is, ****no****, the moon was just giving them the telepathy power, it didn't change htem because it could sense the mermaid blood within them and just gave them th telepathy powers, also sensing they ween't full mermaids, but they were part enough not to be changed fully****. I came up with ths off th top of my head, I just figured the story might not be as good if everybody is a merperson.**

Chapter 11: Important Too

The next day, Sunday, they all met up at Sierra and Seth's house in Sierra's room, since most of them are girls. Sierra and Fawna had decided to keep their powers a secret from their twins until the meeting.

"Okay guys, so guess what," Sierra said sitting on top of her bed with Fawna. Dream and Cara occupied the bean bags while Seth sat at my desk chair and Fara sat on my desk.

"What?" Dream asked.

"Me and Fawna found new powers yesterday!" Sierra exclaimed.

"What are they?" Cara asked.

"Well, think of something in this room that you want," Sierra said, "to hold, not to keep."

_I want to touch that teddy bear Sierra loves so much _Cara thought, It was Sierra's favorite teddy bear, it a light brown fur with a red bow around its neck and deep dark brown eyes, during the day she kept it on top of her dresser, but at night she asks either her mom or dad to bring. When Sierra heard this, she was reluctant to let her have it, but she wanted to prove their powers so she whispered something to Fawna that was unheard by the others, and when she was finished Fawna focused her thoughts on the lovely teddy bear. Then the teddy bear floated over to Cara and hovered above her, not letting her touch it, but letting her get the jist about the powers.

"Cool, but I wanted more," Cara said thinking maybe they just guessed.

"I'm not going to let you touch him, I wouldn't let anyone except my parents touch him one touch. I'm nervous enough with Fawna touching him with her mind," Sierra explained.

"So wait, let me get this straight," Seth said, "Fawna has telekinesis and you, Sierra, can read minds."

"Yup," Sierra said.

"That's not fair! Why didn't I get any new powers besides telepathy with you?" Seth exclaimed.

"Me neither," Fara said, not as mad as Seth, just kinda sad, it really wasn't fair, just because we are not merpeople, we don't get new powers.

"Come on Fara, it's almost time for our swimming lessons with Will," Seth said and Fara got up and followed Seth out of the room. They picked up their swimsuits and headed to the restaurant to get one of their moms to drive them.

Fara's P.O.V.

Will's swimming school was pretty far away, it took half an hour to get there by car. luckily my mom was too busy focusing on traffic to notice how bad I was feeling about the whole power thing. Then, when we finally got there, Seth and I got out and she told us that either her or aunt Rikki will come to pick us up. And after we said bye, she left, and we headed into the school to the pool were the swim lessons took place (we took swim lessons with other kids, but we also stayed after to go over special techniques with uncle Will).

All through the lesson all I could think about was how much easier swimming would be with a tail. Mermaids had all the luck. At the moment, there was only one thing I could think of that was good about not being a mermaid, and it was that I didn't have to avoid water at all costs in public. Then, swimming practice finally ended and it was time for me and Seth's private tutoring, but I didn't really feel in the mood to swim anymore, and i was surprised when Seth said the same thing.

"Oh come on guys, you don't look tired," Will said, "all we are going to do is practice some underwater breathing techniques." That's when it hit me. Seth and I weren't the only people who lived with mermaids though we weren't ones ourselves.

"How do you do it?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" uncle Will asked confused.

"Be married to a mermaid without being a merman," I said, "don't you ever get jealous or want to become a merman?"

"Yeah, I have thought about it," Will said, "But there are a lot of things I wouldn't be able to do as a merman."

"Like what?" Seth asked.

"Well, I wouldn't be able to teach my classes for one," Will said, "plus, I wouldn't be able to do anything that involves water."

"Do you ever think that maybe aunt Bella would like you better if you were a merman?" Seth asked, "Since you two would have that in common."

"Actually, no. A mermaid needs a human," Will said.

"Really?" I asked disbelievingly.

"Of course, who do you think they are going to call on for water involving tasks? Who do you think is going to cover for them when they have to run off in the middle of something after getting wet? Who do you think is going to help them not get exposed? Yeah, a mermaid really needs a dependable human. Way back when I was dating Bella, I always felt it was my duty to protect my mermaids, and the more people looking after them, the safer they are. Your friends need you guys, so don't feel down because you are not the same as them, one day, after all my lessons, you will be able to swim with them." Will said.

"How did you know that was what we were talking about?" I asked.

"I guessed," Will said shrugging, "now how abput we get to your breathing techniques?"

"Sure," me and Seth said, by the end of Will's speech I could already see that being human wasn't all that bad, Seth and I were given an important role to look after the others and keep everyone safe. Plus, now that I think about, we are two of the few humans that actually know about mermaids. And I was proud of it!


	12. Back to School

**A/N I am really sorry this took me so long to update. I have had tons of homework, and I just got done taking midterm finals this past Tuesday. Plus my writers block I had whenever I tried to write this chapter didn't help me at all, but I hope you like it, and I will try to update soon.**

Chapter 12: Back to School

Dream's P.O.V.

Today is our first day back to school with the knowledge of all of our new powers. Because of the teacher's accident of course, we had substitute, but she was different from the sub we had on Friday. I recognized her as the Computer teacher, Mrs. Willow, I guess since there were no computer classes, she was recruited to sub for Ms. Hallor. Mrs. Willow was mean, it was just computer class, but she treated it like any other class, every class she would give us an assignment, and pop quiz us on something we learned in our last class the week before, which was sometimes hard for us third graders. She especially picked on Sierra with the questions, which is why Sierra hated her most. I guess she could tell Sierra wasn't paying attention, and she barely ever did the homework, so this was going to be an interesting class.

Fara's P.O.V.

Ugh, our substitute is Mrs. Willow! Everyone hates and I bet she knows it too! She always has this evil glimmer in her eye when she asked students, Sierra especially, questions they obviously won't know the answer to, and when she scolds them with a lecture on the answer and how they weren't paying attention or doing their homework.

Today she started with a 'quiz' on what we had last learned in computer class, badgering us with question after question. Then she somehow figured out what we were learning in each of our other subjects and 'quizzed' us on that too. Luckily, I was only called on a few times, the majority of the questions went to Sierra, who sat in her desk, answering every question with that smug look on her face that I knew all too well.

Sierra's P.O.V.

Mrs. Willow always thinks she can pick on me because I obviously don't know the answers, paying attention in class is boring, a waste of time. Why should we be locked up in a building like it is a prison, being forced to learn, when the world outside was so beautiful or we could be in the comfort of our homes? But today, she was wrong to mess with me! Every time she asked me a question, I read her mind for the answer, it is as simple as that! And I couldn't help but smirk each time that dumbfounded look came onto her face when I got the answer correct!

Seth's P.O.V.

After figuring out that maybe Sierra just started paying attention or got smarter, Mrs. Willow turned on me. Since Sierra always got me into playing with her when we should have been doing our homework, so I ended up not doing the homework either. So when I got asked a questions, I telepathically asked her what the answers were, at first she was reluctant to help me out, but when I reminded her it was partially her fault I didn't know the answers, she gave in, and when Mrs. Willow finally realized she couldn't pick on the Bennet duo any more, the bell rang for lunch and everyone practically ran out the door.

Cara's P.O.V.

Lunch was good, I mean it was good to get away from Mrs. Willow for a while. But I didn't even really get a chance to talk to my friends about our powers and such, because our whole class was grouped around Sierra, asking her questions on how she dealt so well with Mrs. Willow, but she just blew them off and finished eating. I almost felt sorry for them, they were actually looking at her with admiration, everyone, including me and my other friends, feared they would be Mrs. Willow's next target, and they just wanted to know her secret on how to get all the questions right. But it was really annoying when some of them even followed her around at recess, she wasn't even able to scare them off by yelling at them! And eventually, the bell rang again for us to go back to class.

Fawna's P.O.V.

Back at class, I guess Mrs. Willow got bored of asking us questions, and so for the rest of the day she just right a 100 words or more fictional story taking place in the summer. I was too tired to right it all, but I had to get the work done, or it would be homework, so I simply thought the words as I wrote them using my telekinesis power to hold the pencil. Of course I held onto it when I thought someone was watching, but otherwise, it was a lot better than getting writer's cramp!

Unfortunately, Mrs. Willow was our sub for the rest of the week, each day we had something new to right about they were the boringest days of my life! That is why I was so glad when Friday ended the school year and summer vacation began!

**A/N I know it is winter, but I can't wait until summer, so I thought it would be ncie for them to have summer vacation when I can't :D! Luckily Christmas is just around the corner, and so I wish you all a Merry Christmas!**


	13. YOu What!

Chapter 13: You What?

Sierra's P.O.V.

Summertime has finally come, and my parents say they have a surprise for me and Seth! So cannot wait until dad gets home, he said he was getting it on his way home from work tonight! So, instead of sitting around my room doing nothing, I decided to go to Seth's room to see what he is up to it is a lot better to wait with someone instead of alone.

"Knock, knock, what's up?" I said opening the door to Seth's room.

"Not much, I was actually getting pretty bored," Seth replied.

"Can you wait to see what dad is getting us?" I asked.

"Why don't you just find out?" Seth asked.

"What?" I asked back, confused.

"You can read minds can't you?" Seth asked.

"Well, yeah," I replied.

"Mom is home, I bet she knows what dad is bringing," Seth said.

"Why didn't I think of that?" I asked more to myself than Seth.

"Because I am the smart one," Seth said.

"You are not, you are just the annoying one," I replied.

"Whatever, but if you really want to know, just use your powers," Seth said pushing me through his bedroom door. And I was going to do just what he said, so I went downstairs to the kitchen where mom was making dinner. I snuck in and sat down at the table, hoping she didn't notice me.

_I can't believe I agreed to getting Seth and Sierra pets. Well, at least it will teach them responsibility._ My mom thought

"We are getting a pets! What kind? Now, I really can't wait til dad gets home!" I shouted, I couldn't contain myself, even though I knew it was bad.

"What? How did you. . . Did you just read my mind?" Mom asked.

"No," I answered, probably too quick.

_She's lying _mom thought sit ting down at the table and then I looked into her eyes, and for some reason I couldn't stop myself.

"Okay, the truth is, I looked at the full-moon with Seth even though you and dad told us not to. I can't remember anything, but Seth said we went to the moonpool. Then the next day I found out I had telepathy between Seth and me and the next day I found out I could read minds." I finished by pulling my gaze away from my mom's to the kitchen table, good thing I left out the part that we weren't the only ones to disobey our parents.

"Okay," Mom said looking a bit confused but not upset or angry, "Why don't you go upstairs and get Seth, dinner should be ready soon."

So I did go back up to Seth's room before mom could get angry at me for disobeying.

"Seth, dinner is almost ready," I said.

"Kay, what's wrong?" Seth asked.

'"Nothing is wrong, why would anything be wrong?" I asked.

"You have that look on your face," Seth said, "Sierra, what did you do?"

"Well, I kinda sorta told mom that we looked at the full-moon," I confessed.

"What? Why did you do that? We are in so much trouble. Did you tell her about the others?" Seth asked frantically.

"Well, she thought about the surprise and I couldn't help myself! For some reason I then told her the truth about how we looked at the full-moon, but I left out the part that Fara, Fawna, Cara, and Dream were with us. And after I told her she didn't seem too mad." I explained.

"Good, then we better head downstairs, I think dad is home.

Rikki's P.O.V. while Seth and Sierra were talking

I was a bit confused by what Sierra told me, I mean, why mind related powers? I get the water related powers because we are mermaids, but why minds? Maybe it is because the moon can control us by our minds. Tomorrow I should talk about this with Emma, Cleo, and Bella, who knows, maybe their children were involved too.

Just then I looked out the window to see Zane parking outside the house, he had a lot of bags in his car plus two cages, so I went outside to help him.

"Hey, need some help?" I asked him.

"Yeah, thanks," He said handing me the two cages, "who knew pets needed so much stuff?"

"Many people, which is why I was against it in the first place," I replied.

"But, I had a dog when I was a kid, and it taught me a lot about responsibility, which is why we did decide on getting the pets in the end," Zane reminded me.

"Okay, what kind of animals did you get?" I asked.

"A black and brown yorkie puppy for Seth, and an orange tabby kitten for Sierra," Zane said, "Plus everything the person at the pet store said I would need. "

"They'll like that, but there is something you should know," I said, "Sierra and Seth looked at the full-moon last week. Seth and Sierra now have a telepathic connection and Sierra can read minds."

"How could we not have noticed? They really did want to see the moon that night. You think they were alone?" Zane asked as he locked the car door and headed to the house.

"No, I don't think so. I got her to tell me the truth, but she could have left out who else was there," I explained, "Do you think that since this was their first full-moon since birth it will become a habit? Ever since me, Cleo, and Emma's first full-moon when we became mermaids, at least one person got moonstruck each full-moon unless something else was happening at the moonpool, like when Charlotte became a mermaid.

"Maybe, but we don't really have to worry about that for another 3 weeks," Zane said.

"Your right, let's just enjoy the moment, and tomorrow I'll talk to the girls about it," I said.

By then we had reached the front door to meet a grinning Seth and Sierra. Once we got in we gave them their surprises, Sierra named her kitten Mittens and Seth named his puppy Scruffs. We then set up their food and water bowls and fed them dinner while we too ate. Then Sierra and Seth set up the pet beds in their rooms and went to bed, but when I went to check on them the pets were nice and comfortable sleeping on their owner's bed instead of their own. And finally, I too, went to bed with Zane as we awaited tomorrow.


	14. Who are They?

Chapter 14: Who are they?

Seth's P.O.V.

Today my family is holding a big summer barbeque. My whole family is here, including my cousin Chanel. The good thing is that mommy also invited her friends, so my friends are came too! Right now, the adults are in the backyard and all us kids are in the front yard. I'm playing frisbee with Fara while Scruffs ran back and forth trying to get it, the only problem was, that when it did fall, it was too big for him and it just fell on top of him! Sierra and Fawna are playing with Mittens, dressing her up with clothes from their stuffed animal, one minute I looked over there and Mittens is a princess, the next she is in some small hoodie and jeans! Dream and Cara are drawing on the sidewalk with chalk drawing rainbows, hearts, castles, and other girly things. And Chanel was on the porch playing with a DSI which she says we are too little too play, that it is a "big girl toy" even though we are 8, it isn't like we are babies. I'm just glad Fara is here, or else I wouldn't have anyone to play with.

Mom didn't seem too mad at us about the whole moon thing, and though we told the others what happened, they didn't really mind, they all had pretty good records of obeying orders. Mom seemed nervous about today, she always seems nervous when dad's side of the family comes over, of course my grandpa on my mom's side was here too. I don't really like Chanel, I wish I was actually related to Fara, Fawna, Dream, and Cara, they would be way cooler cousins.

Theres some women coming up to our house, I have never seen them before, one had long blonde hair, straight like Emma's but lighter. Another had curly black hair that was just about shoulder length. And the third brown wavy hair that she wore in a pony-tail. They looked at us a little weirdly, before one of them asked Sierra where Charlotte was she had a weird scared look on her face, and she wasn't saying anything so I answered for her, "Our aunt Charlotte is in the backyard."

"What's your name little boy?" The black-haired lady asked me bending down to get to my level.

"Seth," I answered. Then I got a telepathic message from Sierra: _Be careful what you tell her._

"Do you live here?" The lady asked.

"That's classified information," I replied.

"What?" The lady asked in confusion.

"I don't know you, so I can't let you know where I live," I replied.

She then got up and began to walk towards the backyard, but Sierra ran in front of them, "let me tell my mom you're here before I let you come in." I wonder what she's up to.

Sierra's P.O.V

I stopped the lady because I heard their thoughts, because of the many people in the area around me, it was just part of the big jumble of thoughts that I blocked out as best I could. But I listened in when I saw them, and I got the gist of what they were thinking. They were friends of Aunt Charlotte's, and for some reason they didn't like my mom, Cleo, Emma, and Bella, but I couldn't catch exactly why. They had just gotten here on a plane and Aunt Charlotte told them to meet her here. I had once asked my mom when I was seven why she hated Aunt Charlotte and she told me the story of how Aunt Charlotte was once a mermaid and how she had tried to take away her, Cleo, and Emma's powers, but they instead took away hers. She also told me about how she was madly in love with Lewis and had even locked up Cleo and Emma so they couldn't be seen at his surprise party! Ever since I too have hated Aunt Charlotte and now understand why Chanel acts the way she does. So I wanted to warn my mom before they could get in.

"Hey mom," I said once I got to where she was talking with Emma, Cleo, and Bella, "I need to talk to you in private."

"Okay," mom said to me, "this will just take a second," she said to her friends as I grabbed her hand and led her over to a secluded part of our yard.

"What's wrong?" mom asked.

"There are three ladies outside who want to see Aunt Charlotte," I said.

"And?" mom asked.

"And I read their thoughts," I said, "Their friends of Charlotte's and they are mad at you and your friends for some reason, I'm not sure why."

"Its okay, let them in," mom said.

"Okay," I said and went to the front yard telling them they could enter, but I was still unsure about them.

**A/N I am soooo sorry that I haven't updated in soooo long, but I have been having major writer's block on this story, but I think I finally got it on track. And I will try to update the next chapter faster. :D**


	15. Greetings and Meetings

Chapter 15: Meetings and Greetings

Right when the women came in Charlotte began the introductions.

"Oh, this is Beth, Elizabeth, and Lucy," Charlotte said pointing to the black-haired lady, the brunette, then the blonde, "And this is Cleo, Rikki, and Emma." She finished pointing to them.

"Nice to meet you," Emma said trying to be polite and putting out her hand to Beth who just kept her arms crossed and said, "charmed," and Emma just pulled her hand back feeling embarrassed.

"I'm glad you guys finally get to meet each other," Charlotte said cheerily, "these are the girls I met when I went to a boarding school in Rome for a year. I told them all about you guys."

"She sure did," Elizabeth said, Lucy just seemed to be shy and quiet, "I'm glad we can finally meet the girls who made our friends life a living Hell, well at least until she met us."

"What are you talking about?" Rikki said seriously confused, wasn't it the other way around?

"Don't act so innocent, you know what I am talking about!" Beth snapped.

"No I don't!" Rikki yelled back, "and if anybody was making someones life a living Hell, it was Charlotte herself!"

"You know what, we better go," Elizabeth said before Beth could come up with anything to yell back, "we just came to tell Charlotte we were here. We better get home to our husbands and children to unpack at our new houses."

"Bye!" Charlotte waved, "See you guys tomorrow." And with that the new girls left and the barbeque went on fine from then till the end.

The Next Day

Rikki's P.O.V.

I sat in my kitchen calling Emma. It was Sunday, the one day me and Emma take off from _R&E _our restaurant and leave it to the other workers. I was calling Emma and the others to meet her at Mako, I had to talk to them about the last full moon, who knows, and their kids could have been involved too. Also, ever since yesterday I've wanted to be alone with them to discuss Charlotte's new friends. It helped that today Ash offered to take the kids over to the stables, he wasn't working today either so he could watch over them all, plus he insisted.

"Hey," Emma said answering the phone.

"Hey Emma, I need to see you and the others at the moon pool, it's important," I said.

"The moon pool? We haven't met there in years," Emma said. It was true, what with the kids and our careers we've never had gotten time to take a day to just sit in the moon pool and talk. We have talked at each other's houses, but it wasn't the same. We haven't even gone for a fun swim in the ocean for years! When the kids were born, we just let them swim in a pool in the basement of mine and Zane's mansion, it was pretty big and no one outside could look in, we had decided that the ocean was way too dangerous for them, at least not until they were older.

"Yeah, it's really important," I said, "I'll call the others and meet you there."

"Okay," Emma said hanging up.

I then called Cleo and Bella and told them the same thing and went off to Mako.

I planned on speeding through the water, but I had forgotten how beautiful the ocean was! I couldn't help but stop and stare at the ocean life around me on my way to Mako, and I caught Cleo, Emma, and Bella doing the same thing. It took us a while for us all to reach Mako!

"Oh my gosh! I have forgotten how beautiful the ocean was!" I said sitting up on the edge of the moon pool with my back to the wall. They all just stared at the wall behind me, "what?"

Then I took a look behind me at the wall. It looked fine, just a big black rock wall. Wait a second, it looked fine! "What ever happened to the damage from the explosion Sophie made?" I asked bewildered.

"It looks like it healed," Emma said.

"Well yeah, but how?" Cleo said.

"Magic?" Bella suggested.

"I guess so," I said drying myself off and waling over to touch the wall, it felt fine, almost like new, "I guess magic healed it over time."

"Yeah so what did you want to talk about?" Bella asked.

"Well you know the full moon last night . . ." I began hesitantly.

"Oh no, what'd you do?" Emma asked.

"I didn't do anything!" I snapped back, at least I think I didn't do anything, now I'm not so sure, "well, Sierra and Seth went out and looked at the moon, Seth told Sierra that she had dragged him there, he wasn't affected. I got her to tell me the truth, she also said she had gotten a new power, mind-reading, and she got a telepathic connection with Seth. Either way, I think they might have not been alone, do any of you know if your kids saw the moon?"

"I'm not sure," Cleo said, "She doesn't seem herself lately, but I don't know if it's because of the full moon."

"Same here," Bella said, "though Cara does act like she is keeping a secret."

Satisfied I stared at Emma, waiting for her to doubt that her perfect daughters could have disobeyed her. She looked me straight in the eyes getting ready to go on about how could I blame her perfect daughters for disobeying her, but then the look on her face changed and to my surprise she said, "I think my daughters did look at the full moon and get new powers. One day I left Fawna and Sierra at my house, fresh baked cookies on the top of the fridge, and when I got back, at least half of them were gone and no chairs had been moved."

Then she pulled her gaze away looking confused then angry.

"What did you do to me?" Emma asked.

"Nothing," I replied, "It wouldn't kill you to tell what you're truly thinking once in a while."

"Well, I was going to say that I really don't think my daughters would do that," Emma said, "But you made me say that I thought they did. Are you sure you remember what you did the night of the full-moon?"

The truth was, I didn't, but I don't think it is fair for her to accuse me of looking at the full moon.

"Do you remember what you did that night?" I counter asked. That got her, she didn't either.

"Come to think of it, I don't either," Bella said.

"Me neither," Cleo said, "And I have actually been seeing some pretty weird things lately."

"Like what?" I asked curious.

"Like memories, but not my own," Cleo explained, "Like when you guys were talking to those other girls I looked at Lucy and saw a memory of her with her friends meeting Charlotte, it wasn't much, but it was still weird."

"Wait so, do you guys think we all saw the moon?" Bella asked, "And got new powers?"

"Maybe," I reasoned, "but if I can make people tell the truth and Cleo can see people's pasts, then what can you two do?"

"I don't know," Emma replied.

"Me neither," Bella said.

"Okay, so if we did, then it's possible all our children did too, so you guys should at least ask them," I told them.

"Yeah I guess so, but what if they lie?" Cleo asked, "We've lied to our parents."

"True," Bella said.

"Why don't you ask Sierra or Seth Rikki? If you ask a direct question they can't lie to you." Emma asked me, it wasn't a bad idea.

"Fine, I will," I said, "Now that that's settled, there's something else I wanted to talk to you guys about, Charlotte's friends. Do you think they will be a problem for us?"

"Well, I'm not sure, Charlotte hasn't been a big problem for us for years now," Emma explained.

"She has actually never been a problem for me," Bella said.

"I'm worried, they really seemed to hate us," Cleo said, "Maybe I should just keep an eye on them, I might be able to figure out more about them."

"Good idea," I said, "Okay, that's all I wanted to talk about."

"I've got nothing else to say," Emma said.

"Me neither," Bella said.

"Me neither," Cleo said.

"Okay, then I will see you guys later," I said as I got into the water and left swimming back to my house.


	16. The Interrogation

**A/N Sorry it took me soo long to update I have been busy with school work and have had major writer's block for this story, but hopefully I will be able to update more often now that it is summer! Thank you to all my reviewers and all the people who read this story! Hope you enjoy his chapter!**

Chapter 16: The Truth

Rikki's P.O.V.

When the kids got home I called Seth into the kitchen and sat down at the table with him.

"What's wrong? Am I in trouble? It was Sierra's idea I swear!" Seth babbled.

"No, Seth, you are not in trouble, I just want to ask you a couple of questions," I told him.

"Oh, okay," He said looking much calmer.

"Did anyone go with you and Sierra to the moon pool last full moon?" I asked, looking him straight in the eye. At first he looked surprised he didn't want to give away the secret, then he looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Yes."

"Who?"

"Fara, Fawna, Dream, and Cara."

"What happened?"

"The moon came over us in the moon pool and it bubbled and looked magical."

This surprised me, did that mean that he was a merman?

"Are you a merman?"

"No"

"Did Fara change?"

"No"

"What powers did each person get?"

"Sierra got mind-reading, Cara got mind control, Dream can see the future in her dreams, Fawna got telekinesis, and telepathic connections formed between twins."

"Okay, thanks for your time, now go and play with Sierra, I'm sure she is waiting for you." I said blinking and turning my gaze away. He did get up, but he looked very confused about what had just happened. Immediately I got on the phone and told the others what I had just learned.

Seth's P.O.V.

"What did she want?" Sierra asked when she got into the room.

"I blew it Sierra, I told her all about the others!" I exclaimed after closing the door of her room behind me.

"What? Why?" Sierra asked.

"I don't know! I just looked into her eyes to lie, and I couldn't, I told her anything she wanted to know, which was everything!" I exclaimed, I have no idea why I did that!

"How did she react?" Sierra asked calmly.

"I don't know, she didn't seem mad." I replied.

"Maybe they won't react as angry as we thought they would." Sierra contemplated.

"That's good right?" I asked.

"Yes, but I also have a theory why," Sierra said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because they saw the moon too! That's why mom can get us to tell her the truth all the time just by looking us in the eye! I bet the other moms saw the moon also, but I do not know what their powers are yet." Sierra said.

"So what do we do?" I asked.

"For now we should just explain our theory to the others," Sierra said, "Then we wait for the truth to be revealed."

**A/N Sorry this chapter is so short but I hope to make the next cople chapters Emma and Bella finding their powers and the kids finding out their mother's powers then get deeper into Charlotte's friends.**


	17. Pasts

**A/N Sorry for the time it took for me to write this chapter but I hope the length of it will make up for that. Thank you to all my patient readers and thoughtful reviewers! Enjoy!**

Chapter 17: Pasts

"Okay, so all the adults know," Sierra said. All the kids were in Sierra's bedroom, they went there first thing in the morning after breakfast. Luckily none of the other parents had time to talk to their kids about it yet.

"How? Who gave it away?" Fara said looking around specifically at Dream who was really bad at lying, especially to her parents. Well, so was Fawna, but she had been with her the whole time.

"Hey, it wasn't me!" Dream said putting her arms up in surrender to Fara's glare.

"Seth did, he told mom everything the she told your parents," Sierra explained.

"Seth? The same Seth who broke a window practicing pitching inside and blamed it on an alien laser beam when he was 3?" Cara said.

"One and the same, except he did have a reason," Sierra said.

"I couldn't stop myself! I looked into her eyes and I couldn't help but answer all her questions with the truth," Seth explained.

"We have reason to believe, that not only did we get moonstruck, but so did our mom, and she too got a new power. No one can lie to her looking her straight in the eye, something to do with a sort of mind thing. We also have reason to believe that your mothers too saw the moon and have new powers, we just don't know what they are yet," Sierra explained to the others.

"How do you know our mothers looked at the moon?" Fawna asked.

"Well, I don't, but it seems to me that the moon got all of us so why would it only get one of our moms'? I think the moon wanted to give all the mermaids new powers, mind powers. Like how it can manipulate our minds on the full moon," Sierra explained.

"Then how do we figure out their powers?" Fara asked.

"I say you guys keep a close watch on them, if you are lucky they will just discover their powers when you are there so they won't be able to hide them from you," Sierra said.

"Sounds good to me," Cara said getting up from her seat at the desk, "now can we go play something? I'm bored. We can start the look out later."

"We can play a game on the Wii interactive in the game room," Seth suggested. (It is like the Wii now but it does not require a remote, instead it is voice and motion activated.)

"Yeah, let's play Mario Party 15!" Fawna said.

"Okay, but this time I get to be Mario," Seth said looking to Fara and Sierra who always fight with him to be Mario. So the rest of the day they were going to play games, but tomorrow they were going to investigate, they were going to get answers.

* * *

**Cleo's P.O.V.**

Bella and I were heading over to R&E to talk with Rikki about what we had just found out, Emma had to go to a business meeting out of town this morning for the restaurant. When we got there we found out Rikki was busy with some paperwork in the office and would be out soon. We decided it best to wait at a table for her instead of bothering her while at work. Just then, the three girls we met at the barbeque, Charlotte's friends, entered the café. There weren't many people there this early in the morning. Now was my chance to figure out more about them.

"I'm going to try to see into their past," I told Bella who was sitting across from me, "I might be able to find out more about Charlotte's new friends."

"Okay, but try to do it quick, it could look pretty weird if you just stare blankly at them for a long time," Bella said.

"Okay, I'll try," I said.

I started with Lucy, the quiet one. I just zoned in on her and images started flashing. First it was a picture of her as a baby born in a small town in England then a couple years later a brother born, some pictures of them playing happily as they grow up together. He gets on a ship with the dad, it sinks and both died, she had lost her father and brother! From then on she is terrified of water, her mother moves them to Rome to live with her aunt and her family so she can look for work and not have to worry about her and her daughter at least having a roof over their heads. She goes to college where many people transfer and most speak English, she only knows a bit of Italian. There she meets Elizabeth, she too came originally from England and she was her new roommate, she is very kind and nice and before long they are best friends. A year later they become friends with Beth whom always seemed to be hanging out alone and together they become an inseparable trio. The next year Charlotte transfers in and pushes herself into the group, though Lucy feels it as a break in and is pushed more out of the group when Charlotte is around. A year later they graduate and Charlotte returns to Australia while they stay behind and build their lives, Lucy marries a guy named Drake and they have a girl named Joy. Apparently just last year Charlotte revisited and took them to a moon pool she must have found somehow and they all turned into mermaids, their powers like ours besides the mind things. Lucy got hydrokinesis, Beth got heat, Elizabeth got ice, and Charlotte, much to her disappointment got jelly, she was hoping to get all three like last time. That's when she told them about us, except she lied a little, okay maybe a lot. She said she had been there first with Lewis and that I had started to like him while they were dating and became a good friend of Lewis that she respected and that when she found out we were mermaids she became one to become more accepted but instead we turned on her and stole her powers and Lewis away from her. She also said we would taunt her and torture her with our powers in a mocking manor after forcing her to lose her own and her love, and that she avoided exposing them for their safety because she cared about us even though we were in no way nice to her or deserving of her respect. From then on she said she was too scared to stay around Gold Coast and transferred to another school in a different city in Australia and eventually to college in Rome. Lucy, being a new mermaid conquered her fear of water and then a year later after her mother died of cancer she moved here with her family and friends. Then my mind blacked out and then I was back in R&E, Bella waving her hand in my face.

"Earth to Cleo," She said.

"What?" I asked.

"You were out for 10 min, I was afraid something had happened," Bella said.

"Really? It didn't seem that long," I said.

"Did you find anything out?" Bella asked.

"Yeah, its soo sad Bella," I said, "Lucy has no family left, her father and brother sunk in a ship and her mother just died maybe a couple months ago."

"Oh my gosh, really?" Bella said, she knew all about Charlotte and what she had done, so she couldn't believe how nice a person called Charlotte's friend could be.

"Yeah, also she does not like Charlotte, she sees Charlotte as an intruder into the trio that is her, Elizabeth, and Beth. She thinks Charlotte pushed her way into the group right when she transferred, I think it may have been that they reminded her of Me, Rikki, and Emma, so she thought she had another chance to get part of what she wanted, to be a mermaid. Lucy also thought charlotte seemed to put her out of the group when she was around. I'm thinking that is because Lucy reminds her of me and she hates me for stealing Lewis," I said to her hoping no one else would hear.

"She's on the right track, I'd bet anything that you are right about the reasons Charlotte got so close to them, anything else?" Bella asked.

"Yeah, last year Charlotte visited them in Rome I guess, then, I don't know how she did it, but she found and moon pool and got them all transformed into mermaids. They have the same powers as us minus the new ones. Then she told them about us but she twisted it to make us look like the bad guys and her like an innocent child," I replied.

"That sounds so like her! Who got what power?" Bella asked seriously curious.

"Lucy got my power, Elizabeth got Emma's, Beth got Rikki's, and, sorry to say, but Charlotte got yours," I replied.

"Ugh, but I guess now she can say she has had all powers at least once," Bella said sarcastically. She was a bit upset, I could tell, the weird thing was that I started to feel upset too.

"Don't worry, there is no way she knows how to control it as well as you do, you've had it since you were nine!" I stated trying to cheer us both up.

"Yeah, you're right," Bella said smiling which instantly made me feel better too.

"How did you do that?" I asked thinking about the feeling we just shared weirdly.

"Do what? I didn't do anything," she said innocently.

"When you were upset I started to feel upset and then when you felt better so did I, it seemed like your feelings were radiating off of you and into me," I said, "Maybe that is your new power! You can radiate your feeling into those around you."

"What kind of power is that? The feelings thing could have just been a coincidence," Bella said.

"It could be pretty cool, maybe if you learn to transport certain feelings to certain people," I said, "you could cheer up someone without saying a word!"

"I guess you are right, but there is only one way to find out," Bella said with a smirk and I saw she was looking at Rikki who had just come out of her office and walking over to us. Rikki didn't look too happy, she was never happy this early in the morning, which is why Emma had to be the one to go to the meeting. If Bella could make Rikki cheery and wide awake then it would definitely be her power!

"Hey Rikki!" Bella said perkily as Rikki reached our table wearing a frown on her face and tired looking eyes, but then without warning she smiled and looked wide.

"Hey guys! I am so sorry I took so long, you know, got all that darn paperwork to fill out to keep this restaurant functioning!" Rikki replied perkily but then as suddenly as it had come it vanished except now she was confused, "What happened?"

"I got my power!" Bella said excitedly but also quietly so no one else could hear.

"That's great, but next time please don't use it on me," Rikki said.

"I can't promise but I will try," Bella said.

"I got to look into Lucy's past," I told her, "Her brother and dad died when she was little and her mom died just a few months ago. She met Elizabeth and Beth in college along with Charlotte whom she sees as an intruder ad who is always putting her out of the group. I think it is because she sees them as me, you, and Emma and she hates me for stealing Lewis. Then Last year she visited them and took them to a moon pool where they transformed and got their powers. Lucy got mine, Beth got yours, Elizabeth got Emma's, and Charlotte got Bella's." I finished summing it up for Rikki.

"Whoa, what about the other two?" Rikki asked.

"I haven't had a chance to see yet, but I will now, just give me at least 5 min. this time I can just look at the childhood and skip some things," I said now focusing my attention on Beth.

The pictures started the same, a baby born somewhere I believe in Ireland, but her mother dies in childbirth. As she grows up she begins to remind her father more and more of her mother and he begins to beat her because of it. He beats her harder and harder as she grows up. Then, finally when she is 16 she is able to catch him on tape and bring it to court. He is sentenced to life and she goes to live with her aunt, her mother's sister. She never brings up the beatings but from then on Beth never reveals her feelings to anyone. She even keeps it secret from Elizabeth, Lucy, and later Charlotte thinking it could ruin their friendship. She actually feels bad for Charlotte she cannot detect the lies, she just sees Charlotte as a friend and anyone trying to harm Charlotte as an enemy. Beth soon finds trust in a boy named Greg, she falls for him and reveals everything to him, he accepts her for who she is and her past. Needless to say they got married and had two children a year apart. First a boy named Ben then a girl named Marie. Then I zoned out again.

"Anything new?" Bella asked when she noticed I was out of the trance.

"Yeah, Beth was beaten as a child because she reminded her father of her dead mother and he probably believed she was partially responsible because her mother died in childbirth. When she was 16 she brought him to court with evidence and they sentenced him to life in prison. She went to live with her aunt on her mother's side afterwards. When she met charlotte she kind of sees us as sort of treating Charlotte like her dad treated her so she wants to protect Charlotte. Also, no one else but her husband knows about her childhood, well, besides us now," I told them, I didn't believe knowing about their children at the moment was that important.

"We didn't beat Charlotte! If anything she beat us when she dropped us from like 10 ft, in the air or when she attacked us with water snakes!" Rikki whisper exclaimed.

"Yeah, but like I said, she lied to them. Beth doesn't know the truth, she just sees Charlotte as a trusty friend and us as the people trying to hurt her," I reasoned, these guys actually seemed like they could be nice and good friends of ours if they weren't under the influence of Charlotte.

"Okay, that's two out of three, now do Elizabeth," Bella said anxious.

"Okay okay, let me concentrate," I said then focused my attention on Elizabeth.

Again pictures of a child being born, somewhere in England I believe. came to mind, except she had an older brother, he was 3 when she was born. His name is John. She grew up in a happy, practically perfect family; she barely even fought with her brother as most siblings do. She grew up in a world of perfection, she got all good grades in her elite private school, she never argued with anyone and always did what she was asked. She was sent to the boarding school in Italy because it was one of the best in all of Europe and she was smart enough to get in on a full scholarship, not that her parents couldn't have paid for it anyway. There she met Lucy and she sympathized her because Lucy wasn't able to grow up with such a good family like she had and she did all she could to cheer her up and help her have a good college life. It was the same when she met Beth, she just wanted to cheer them up and make their lives better. That's also when she decided she was majoring in psychiatry, she wanted to become a psychiatrist so she could help lead children and others with terrible traumatizing pasts to a better and brighter future. When she met Charlotte she didn't see anything wrong with her, just another girl. She too felt that Charlotte was a bit of an intrusion but she didn't see any harm in it and she eventually grew fond of her. After college she was sad to leave her friends but they promised to keep in touch. What she found at her own home was entirely a surprise, a man her age or maybe a year or two older was sitting on the couch in the living room. It wasn't long until she found out his name was Derek and that she was to be married to this guy, to keep up the family image, he was the son of one of her dads co-workers and they had agreed to the marriage and so had Derek before she even got home, at this point it didn't even matter what she thought. He was a nice guy but she complained to her parents about why she couldn't meet other guys and choose her own spouse and they said it was because they didn't want to risk her falling for what they considered the wrong man, the type of people she hung out with, the kind of people she wanted to help. She had never said no to anything her parents asked her to do and Derek did really try to make things work out, I guess he too had come from a perfect home and was just doing what he had been told. They did get married and worked to have a romantic relationship, they eventually had two daughters two years apart, Abigail and Clarabella. Her career expanded as a well known and well loved psychiatrist while Derek stayed home with the kids, he was a writer with his own novel series that he worked on whenever he got the chance. The year Charlotte came back and revealed her secrets and lies about us Elizabeth began to look at her in a new light, as a person she had to help and she hated us for doing what Charlotte said we did just as she hated the parents who abused their children or the people that put children in dangerous situations that then haunt them the rest of their lives. I then zoned out and just in time too, the three girls were getting up and ready to leave.

"Okay, so what is the mystery behind Elizabeth?" Bella asked.

"Well, she grew up in the perfect family and went to college majoring in psychiatry to help children and people with traumatizing pasts like her friends move toward better futures," I said, "but her parents arranged her to be married to her dad's co-worker's son Derek because they were afraid she would end up falling for the wrong kind of person with a bad history, like the people she worked with, like her friends."

"Wow, that's harsh, why didn't she just say no, they can't choose who she marries without her permission," Rikki said.

"She trusted their opinions of him as a good man, she had never said no to them before, she fully trusted them," I said starting feel a bit guilty that I was finding out all this personal stuff about them, it was starting to seem wrong, "guys, do you think it's a bad thing that we were able to find out all this personal stuff about them?"

"No, the moon gave you a new power for some reason, and this could be it," Rikki said, "you were meant to find out this stuff about them, we have to learn more about them to find out if they are evil enemies like Charlotte or good people we can save from the dark side and so far I'm going with the latter."

"Me too, they seem so nice, so normal," Bella said.

"Maybe we can use our knowledge to get closer to them, it is going to be hard to get their trust with all they have heard about us," I said trying to think things through, "but, she never said anything about you Bella, you could get close to them, become their friend, and reveal the truth about us, maybe even turn them to our side."

"I guess so but I think we better wait a bit, let them get settled into the Gold Coast," Bella said, "Plus I think we should talk this over with Emma, fill her in before we decide to do anything."

"Your right, it would be best if we wait," Rikki said, "but there is still something bugging me about that full moon. Why didn't we go to Mako when we got moonstruck, did our husbands hold us back? Did we even get moonstruck or did we just get new powers? Why didn't Seth and Fara turn into merpeople even though they were in the pool at the time the moon passed over it?"

"I'm not sure, I don't remember getting moonstruck, but we never remember getting moonstruck. I remember going to bed with Lewis thinking that Dream had already gone to sleep at her usual full moon bedtime," I replied, "I like to think Lewis would have told me if I went all moon crazy on him."

"Me too," Bella said, "Maybe it's like you said Rikki, the moon wanted us to get these powers for some possibly important reason, and it couldn't wait for us to look at it like we haven't for years. We didn't look at it, so we didn't get moonstruck, but that wasn't enough for us to fully keep the full moon's magic out of our minds."

"As for Seth and Fara, well, the moon has never given new powers and transformed anyone on the same night, maybe it didn't have enough power," I said, "I don't like thinking of the moon as some all powerful being that has full control over us, it's creepy."

"You're right, but that is all we know about it," Rikki said, "but we do know it has to be magical, we're proof of that. We just don't know if it is an actual being, but if what we are saying is true then it must be some type of intelligent magical being. I just wish we knew who or what it is."

"That is one mystery we may never know the answer too," Bella said.

There was a moment of silence as we all went over this in our heads. Was there some magical person or thing that gave us our powers and takes over our minds when we do as little as look at the full moon? It seemed too freaky to be true.

"Well, I better get back to work, they can't go too long without me," Rikki said getting up and ready to go back to work, "talk to you guys later, next time with Emma."

"Yeah, see you later," I said

"Bye," Bella said.

"I have to go too, I have some errands to run," Bella said, "Bye Cleo,"

"Bye Bella," I said then got up to go too, no point in hanging around alone. I could probably get some chores done around the house before Dream comes back from the Bennet's house, Zane was off from work today but I bet he is doing paperwork in his office anyway since Rikki isn't home, either way it is good to know that there is an adult in the house to watch the kids, even if it is Zane. And Lewis doesn't get home from the hospital until around 8.

* * *

**Emma's P.O.V.**

I just got to the meeting, it is all the way in another city, I had to take 3 different trains just go get here. All to find out I had left the paperwork I needed at home on my dresser! I couldn't believe that me, Emma Dove, could forget something so important, I almost never forget anything! I am sitting at the train station debating on whether I should go to the meeting and tell them I forgot the papers or call and cancel the meeting saying that something more important came up. Neither sounded like a good option, I'd embarrass our whole café if I told them I was irresponsible enough to leave the paperwork at home, and if I canceled it would mean lying and paying for three more trains to go back home and then have to come here again on the day we reschedule, it would be a waste of money from the café which Rikki and I had decided would be fair to use since the meeting was for the café. Rikki will be soo mad at me, and she has good reason to be. I looked down at my watch sadly, 10:30, the meeting is in half an hour not too far from here, 15 min. if I walk, it's too late to cancel. I sat there for a few minutes with my head in my hands thinking about where the papers sat uselessly on my dress where I had set them the night before so that I wouldn't forget them today, that unfortunately didn't work. Then I imagined them right next to me where I needed them to be. Then I checked my watch, 10:45, I had to start walking if I was going to get there on time, like there was a point. But when I looked next to me, a space that used to be empty was now occupied by a stack of papers, the same stack of papers that were on my dresser!

"What the? But that's impossible!" I excitedly whispered to myself looking through them to make sure they were all there, they were. As much as I would have liked to find some sort of explanation for this I had to get to that meeting!

**A/N Hope you enjoyed this chapter, I think it is the longest one I ever wrote! Please R&R and I will try to update faster! :)**


	18. Lucy

**A/N Sorry this is so late! I worked on it as much as I could but with school starting and all the work I've been getting it as hard to find the time! Thank you to all of my reviewers, I am glad to hear all of your opinions! Enjoy! :)**

Chapter 18: Lucy

Cleo's P.O.V.

When Emma came back from the meeting we filled her in on all that they had talked about and she told us that she had found her power, teleportation! After R&E closed we went to Rikki's house to pick up the kids. I took Dream home and managed to make a quick dinner before Lewis got home and we all ate together. The next day I woke up at 6:00 AM to make breakfast for Lewis before he went to work. He came down around 6:30 and I gave him his coffee, eggs, toast, and bacon.

"What's up Cleo? You're usually asleep when I leave for work in the summer," He asked.

"Well there was something I wanted to talk to you about," I began sitting at the table across from him, "You remember the last full moon?"

"Yeah," He replied between bites.

"Did anything happen? Like did I see the moon or anything?" I asked him.

"No, at least I don't think so, why?" He asked curious.

"Well," I said not exactly knowing how to go about telling him but deciding to just be blunt, "I got a new power."

"What?" He said spitting up the coffee he just took a sip of.

I handed him a napkin to wipe it up and continued, "I can see people's pasts, just by looking at them and concentrating. I first noticed when I began seeing random flashes of people's memories just by looking at them."

"But you didn't see the moon! How is it possible for you to get a new power?" He asked.

"I don't know, but I'm not the only one, Emma, Rikki, and Bella also got new powers. Emma can teleport objects with her mind, Rikki can make people tell her the truth by looking them in the eye and asking them direct questions, and Bella can radiate her feelings to others around her," I replied, "Oh, and Dream and the other kids did look at the moon and did get new powers too, also having to do with the mind. Dream can see the future in her dreams, Fawna got telekinesis, Cara got mind control, Sierra got mind reading, and Seth and Fara got telepathy with their twins."

"How could she have seen the moon, when we went to sleep she was out like a light safe in her bed," Lewis said.

"I guess she was faking it, they all wanted to see it after we told them they couldn't, it's instinct to want something you can't have," I explained.

"But she is such a good girl, what would make her disobey us?" he asked.

"Probably either the influence of her friends or even the influence of the moon," I replied, "Either way I think she would have gotten the powers, the moon for some reason wanted us to have these powers and we don't really have a choice. Even without looking at the moon me, Emma, Rikki, and Bella got powers"

"But why? Why are these powers so important, so necessary?" He asked while I took a peak at the clock on the wall.

"That, my dear, is something to be discovered in the future," I replied, "Now you better leave soon, it's already 7:00."

"Really," he said finishing up. I handed him a lunch I made for him earlier and gave him a kiss goodbye.

"I love you," he said.

"Love you too sweetie," I said giving him another small kiss, "now go save some lives."

After he left I went into the TV room and put on a show that looked interesting. I only watched it for a few minutes when Dream came in still wearing her pink night gown with her favorite stuffed dog in hand.

"Mommy I had a bad dream," She said.

"Oh come here sweetie," I said as she sat on my lap and I cradled her in my arms to comfort her, "It was only a dream, it isn't real."

"No mommy, it was the future," she said.

"How do you know?" I asked her.

"The future is different from other dreams, I don't know how to describe it, I just know one from the other," Dream said, "The first time it scared me but I thought it was impossible to see the future, now I know better."

"Well, what was in your dream?" I asked her.

"That lady from the barbeque, the blonde one of Charlotte's friends, was at the mall with a little girl named Joy. They were walking by the fountain in the middle of the mall when the fountain turned on with a splurge of energy and splashed them before returning to its normal speed. 10 seconds later the lady turned into a mermaid. There weren't many people there, but it didn't take long for all of them to gather around, they took pictures, the flashes were blinding, and Joy just stayed by her mother the whole time. About 10 minutes later these creepy scientists came in and took Joy away from her mom crying, kicking and screaming. Then I woke up I couldn't bear to watch it anymore, Mommy, would that happen to us if we were ever discovered?" She asked.

"Not exactly, but it is important to keep the secret from anyone you don't know or can't trust," I said to Dream but I was thinking about poor Lucy, maybe there was a way to help her, "Dream, do you know what time this happened?"

"I don't know, but the fountain was just turning on so probably when the mall was just opening," she said.

"So that's about 8:00 then," I said thinking that maybe if we got there in time we could prevent it from happening, the future may not be definite, "Go get dressed sweetie, we're going to the mall."

"Okay mommy," She said and then she went up to her room ad got dressed into jean capris and a pink shirt with a crown on it and says 'Daddy's little Princess,' in silver lettering.

I gave her some cereal to eat for breakfast, once she was done it was about 7:40. It takes about 15 min. to get to the mall so we hopped in the car and I drove as fast as I could according to the speed limit, a ticket would just slow us down more.

When we got there it was about 7:55 and from our car we saw Lucy and Joy walking in, Joy looked like she was only 5 or 6 years old. We ran in after them, this early there weren't many people at the mall.

"Wait!" I shouted, Lucy turned around, but once she saw it was me she turned back around and walked away, getting closer and closer to the fountain. I ran up a few feet behind her just as the fountain blasted on and I used my power to shield us all, me, Lucy, and Joy (Dream stayed behind for fear of getting wet). Luckily, no one else seemed to notice that once the fountain got to its regular speed we weren't even the least bit wet. They were too busy looking for the things they need and want to buy before the mall becomes filled with people. Once any other person was out of earshot we began to talk.

"Why did you save me? I thought you hated me," Lucy said.

"I have no reason to hate you," I said, "I thought you hated me because of what Charlotte told you."

"I don't really believe Charlotte sometimes, it seems like she's acting the part of damsel in distress," Lucy said.

"If you trust me enough I could tell you what really happened between me and charlotte, or at least from my point of view," I offered.

"How about we go sit at a table in the courtyard. I want to get to know you before we delve into the whole Charlotte thing," she said.

"Okay, sounds good," I said as Dream rejoined us and we headed to the courtyard which was basically empty. We all had already eaten breakfast so we just sat at a table and I talked with Lucy while Dream entertained Joy.

I told her the basics about me, my family, my fish, my fear of water before I was a mermaid, how I met my friends, how we became mermaids, and other things like that.

"So how old is Joy?" I asked after an awkward silence, I don't think she was willing to delve into her past and reveal it to me.

"Oh, Joy is 5, starting kindergarten next year," she said smiling at her daughter, "wait a minute, how do you know my daughter's name?"

"Lucky guess?" I lied, but the look on her face showed she wasn't buying it, "well, okay, you see Charlotte is one of me and my friends' main enemy. When you guys showed up we thought you guys might've been evil like her and planning to expose us or something so I looked into your pasts." I said the last part really quickly hoping she wouldn't hear it.

"You looked into my past? What did you see?" She said a bit offended but at the same time curious.

"Not much, just that you lost your dad and brother in a shipwreck and that you lost your mother died a couple months ago, sorry for your loss. Then I saw your husband and daughter. Then when Charlotte came back and turned you all into mermaids," I said, "It was all in flashes of images though, I'm still learning how to use my power. I hope you don't mind."

"I won't mind it this time, but you better not do it again," she said.

"Oh, don't worry, I definitely won't," I said honestly, "I'm only going to use this new power when it is absolutely necessary."

"Good," she said, "So what did really happen between you and Charlotte?"

"Oh yeah," I started, "well at the moment I was separated with my boyfriend Lewis, he was getting a little clingy. Then he started dating Charlotte, and I got jealous, but I never harmed her with my powers, except the first day of school when I accidently turned the sprinklers on her when I was trying to not get wet. She found out about mermaids when she found a video of her grandmother Gracie who was also a mermaid. She found out we were mermaids, and in an attempt to impress Lewis, she turned into one the night of the full moon. She got all of our powers and it got to her head. She used them against us, and then the night of the next full moon, one in every 50 years where when in the moon pool you can be changed back into a full human, she tries to take away our powers by pushing us in. We end up pushing her in and taking away her powers."

"That's really different from what Charlotte said," Lucy says.

"Yeah, but I swear it's the truth," I said truthfully hoping she'll believe me.

"Okay," she said thinking, "I believe you. I have a good sense of knowing when someone is lying, and that sense went crazy whenever I was even near Charlotte!" I was so relieved!

"Good," I said, "Do you mind keeping an eye on her? My friends and I think she might be planning some kind of revenge on us and it would be nice to get a heads up if she is."

"Sure, no problem," she said, "Hey, do you know what time it is?"

"Yeah," I said looking at my watch, "almost 11, why?"

"I told Drake we would be home by 11," she said, "If we're even a little bit late he gets worried, so we better go. I'll have to go clothes shopping with Joy some other time, we can survive on the clothes we bought here. We definitely should do this again sometime."

"Yeah, how about you meet me at the beach by R&E's, the café, I can show you Mako Island and the moon pool." I offered.

"Sounds good, around noon?" She said

"Great, see you then," I replied.

"Bye," she said as her and her daughter Joy walked away to their car so they could go home to Drake and unpack or something.

Lucy was really nice, I'm glad she's on our side now. One down two to go.

**A/N Hope you liked it! All reviews are greatly appreciated! :D**

**I will update ASAP, but with schoolwork, writer's block, and such, that could be a while away, but I promise to try my hardest to get it up within a month. :)**


	19. Elizabeth

**A/N I'm sorry this is soo late. Thank you to all my patient readers who put up with my lateness, I love reading your reviews! :) I hope you enjoy the chapter. Please R&R! :D**

Chapter 19: Elizabeth

Lucy's P.O.V.

After bringing Joy back home to Drake, I decided to pay Elizabeth a visit; Drake didn't mind having to watch Joy alone for a few hours. She knew for a fact that Elizabeth wasn't starting her new job for about a week or so, and that Derek was currently visiting with some family he has that lives here and whom he hasn't seen for many years.

When I got there Elizabeth was a bit surprised to see me, but she was still happy.

"Hey Lucy, what brings you here?" she asked while simultaneously picking up small dolls and toys that the girls left lying around.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," I said sincerely, I was questioning whether I did the right thing in trusting Cleo, and I knew Elizabeth was really the only person I knew I could trust with this issue, "where are Abigail and Clarabella?"

"Clarabella is down for a nap and Abigail went with Derek to visit his family, remember," she replied.

"Oh yeah," I said, "You'll never guess what happened to me at the mall today."

We went over and sat at the kitchen table to talk.

"What happened?" she said.

"Well I went to the mall with Joy to get her some new clothes since we just moved I figured I should get her new clothes to fit the warmer weather. We got there right at the opening, but unfortunately we were walking right by the fountain as it turned on and water splashed out of the fountain," I said.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay?" she asked, I guess not registering the fact that I must be okay since I am right there in front of her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But that is because before the fountain turned on a woman came up and told me to stop, I didn't listen not knowing what she was talking about, but when they did turn on she saved me since I had no time to react," I said, "And that woman was Cleo McCartney, her daughter Dream was with her too."

"Really? That's weird, Charlotte said she was the most evil of the group, why would she help you?" Elizabeth pondered.

"I had a conversation with her in the cafeteria at the mall, according to her most of what Charlotte had said was not true," I told her, "Charlotte was the one who used her powers against Cleo and her friends; mostly Cleo since she was Lewis' ex-girlfriend and was still in love with him. Also, she was trying to push Cleo, Rikki, and Emma into the pool on that night when they could lose their powers, but they turned it around and pushed her in. The power she had was too much for her to handle, all the power was going to her head."

"Do you believe her?" Elizabeth asked sincerely, "we've known Charlotte much longer than we've known Cleo and she has never been proven to lie before."

I thought about that for a while, I really don't like Charlotte and honestly don't think it was past her to lie to get what she wanted.

"Yes, I do," I said, "I actually think she wanted to recreate what she had with Cleo and her friends minus the part where she likes someone one of us likes. Think about it, I'm nice and shy, your smart, and Beth is a rebel, and in the previous group she described Cleo as a quiet seemingly nice person, though she also said that she had a dark side but that could be biased since her boyfriend Lewis did end up marrying Cleo, she described Emma as the brains, and Rikki as the rebel. The groups are really alike and she is doing anything to get a part in a mermaid group. She even forced us to become mermaids, she knew what was going to happen in that pool and she didn't even bother to warn us. Plus, I always feel a bit left out and kind of pushed away by her when she is around our group, I think it is because I remind her of Cleo."

"I don't know, how do you know Cleo wasn't lying to you?" Elizabeth asked.

"I can't explain it Liz, I just know, when people are lying I can detect it and she wasn't," I replied.

"Okay well I trust you, but before I change sides I want to meet them and make my own judgments," Elizabeth said.

"That could probably be arranged, but for now let's just not mention this to Charlotte, Cleo says that she thinks Charlotte may be plotting some kind of revenge on them and she wants me to check it out so I can give them a bit of forewarning," I said.

"In that case we can't tell Beth either, she is really close to Charlotte and I don't think she would ever betray her," Elizabeth replied.

"Okay so it is settled, for now this is just a secret between us for now," Lucy said.

"Agreed," Elizabeth replied.

"Okay, I better get home; I have to start making dinner for Drake and Joy. Drake may be a good husband but he is a terrible cook," I said and then drove back to my house to make pasta for my family.

Cleo's P.O.V.

After the mall Dream and I went over to Bella and Will's house. Will was out giving lessons, summer is his busiest season. When we got there Dream went to play with Cara in her room while I went to the kitchen with Bella to talk to her about what happened this morning.

I told her the whole story from Dream's dream to the end of my conversation with Lucy.

"I'm so glad she is on our side now, but what if her friends turn against her? Or what if she is only pretending to be on our side, she could trick us into doing what Charlotte wants us to," Bella asked.

"They won't, they seem like pretty nice people and they are better friends with Lucy than with Charlotte. And I trust Lucy, plus if we do think she is lying we can just have Rikki talk to her," I replied.

"That's true," Bella agreed.

Then Dream and Cara came into the kitchen and took seats across from us.

"We need to talk," Cara said in a business-like tone.

"What about?" Bella said.

"We know you know about our powers," Cara said, "and we also have reason to believe that you guys got new powers to and we want to know what they are."

"What makes you think we have new powers?" I asked.

"Because Seth's mom was able to make him tell her the truth about us even though he is great liar," Cara replied.

"Okay fine, we did get new powers as well," Bella replied, it really wasn't that big of a deal, "I can control emotions."

"And I can see pasts," I said as well.

"what about the other moms," Cara replied.

"Sierra and Seth's mom you already know about and Fara and Fawna's mom can teleport objects from one place to another," Bella replied, they were getting more relaxed, but I could tell that was partially due to Bella.

"Okay thanks!" Cara said, "Can I call Sierra and Fawna?"

"Sure," Bella said, then they both ran out of the room, very excited that they got what they wanted.

Beth's P.O.V.

This morning I went to the mall and couldn't believe what I saw. When I looked in the cafeteria I saw Lucy, and was just going to go over to her when I saw she was also sitting with Cleo McCartney, the enemy. Not only that, but she looked like she was having a good time, much happier than she is whenever she hangs out with Charlotte, Elizabeth, and I. I guess she is changing sides and I see it as my duty to report this to Charlotte and Elizabeth, she can't be our friend and the friend of the enemy. But it is a shame, she is such a nice girl, maybe if I tell Charlotte we can remind her of all the terrible things Cleo and her friends have done and get her back. I will go tell Charlotte, she always knows what to do.

**A/N I am soooooooooooo sorry! Homework has been keeping me busy practically all the time and when I don't have homework all I want to do is relax! I hope you forgive me, but I don't know when the next chapter will be up, but I will try my hardest to have it up before Christmas. :)**


	20. Changing Sides

**A/N Again I am so sorry for how long it takes to update these chapters. That is why my New Year's resolution is to put more time into writing my stories :) I hope this chapter was worth the wait! Please R&R! :D**

Chapter 20: Changing Sides

Beth's P.O.V.

The day after the mall incident I decided to go over to Charlotte's house. My husband Greg was at work along with Charlotte's husband, so I had to bring Ben and Marie along with me. They were only 5 and 4, there was no ways I could leave them at home and I didn't have a babysitter. When I got there Charlotte wasn't surprised to see me, I had called before I left.

"Hi Beth, I'm so happy to see you," Charlotte said sincerely as she lead me to the couch in the living room where we both took a seat and the kids went off to play in Chanel's room, "What did you want to talk about?"

"Well actually, I wanted to talk to you about Lucy," I told her, "I saw her at the mall the other day with Cleo, and –"

"With Cleo? Cleo McCartney? What was she doing with her?" Charlotte said interrupting.

"Well, I don't know for sure, but she seemed really happy talking to her," I said remembering what I had seen, "happier than she is when the four of us hang out, and the kids were getting along great."

"What did you do? Did you remind her of all the terrible things Cleo has done to me?" Charlotte asked.

"No, I thought it would be better if you did," I said.

"Well by now she has probably gone to Elizabeth and turned her against me too!" Charlotte said getting angry, but not yelling so the kids wouldn't hear, "How could you let this happen Bethany!" I was shocked, no one had called me that since my . . . father. Ever since I was 16 I forbade anyone to ever call me that again, but I've never told Charlotte about my past.

"Maybe Cleo has changed, maybe you should give her another chance," I said after a moment of silence, Charlotte was getting really mad and I fear that I have just gotten Lucy into a whole lot of trouble. I was trying to cool Charlotte down.

"Never! She will never change!" Charlotte practically screamed, my plan had backfired, "Your turning on me too!"

"No, I'm definitely on your side, I just don't think it is that big of a deal," I said, "There is no need to worry, we would never leave you, can't they just be friends with you and them?" Lucy did look really happy with Cleo . . .

"No! For the plan to work I need you all on MY side!" Charlotte said.

"What plan?" I asked.

"This month there is a blue moon, if we can get them to Mako island that night and force them into the moon pool with our power. Then they will not only lose their powers, but also lose any memory of all the years that they were mermaids," Charlotte said, "Ruining their 'perfect' families and giving me another chance with Lewis."

"But you are married," I reminded her, not that she should have needed it.

"Things are getting a bit boring between us," she explained, "I've been thinking of ending it for years now, I just need a fallback, which would be Lewis."

She was really starting to scare me, "Doesn't that all seem a little too drastic?"

"Why would you say that?" Charlotte asked, as if what she had just said did not make her sound crazy.

"What they did in the past should stay in the past, forget about it," I told her as nicely as I could "You don't need to ruin all they've worked for in the past _ years! What's done is done, nothing will change, Lewis won't fall in love with you."

"Don't say that, he loves me! She is just blinding to what could've been! We could've been the happiest couple on earth," Charlotte yelled, really surprising me. She was so loud that the kids came into the room to see what was wrong.

"Mommy, what's wrong?" Chanel asked.

"Nothing," Charlotte said visibly trying to calm down, "Why don't you go show Ben and Marie that new game I taught you."

"Really?" Chanel said.

"Yeah definitely," Charlotte said, "I'll come in later to see if you did it right."

Then all three ran off, Chanel excited about whatever game they were going to play, and my kids curious to see just what that game was.

"What is the game?" I asked her.

"Oh you'll see," Charlotte said with a smirk, "Want some chocolate?"

I took the little chocolate she offered me and ate it, nothing seemed wrong with it, and she had one as well.

"I really didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice," Charlotte said, "I've told you my plan, and you don't like it. Now you are going to go off and warn the others of it, and I cannot let that happen. I've worked too hard for this to let it go as a failure!"

"What are you talking about?" I asked, but not even a second later screaming came from Chanel's room.

"Mommy I did it," Chanel said, "come see my knots."

"Charlotte what did you do?" I asked frantically getting up when I heard the word 'knot.'

"Oh you will see," Charlotte said as we both went to Chanel's bedroom. What I saw there will haunt me forever. Little Marie was in a chair, her arms tied behind her back, and tears streaming down her face.

"Mommy it hurts," she whimpered, I instantly ran to her and tried to untie the knots, "where is Ben?"

"She locked him in that room," she said.

"I did the special knot just like you told me to," Chanel told Chanel.

"You did great sweetie," Charlotte praised her daughter.

"This is not good Charlotte! Help me get Marie out of this," I told her.

"I'm sorry but I cannot do that," Charlotte said, "And I am going to need you to go to sleep now."

"What?" I said but not 10 seconds later I felt dizzy and passed out.

Charlotte's P.O.V.

"Did I do a good job mommy?" Chanel asked me.

"You did a great job," I told her walking over to her closet, but when I got there I found nothing but her clothes, "what did you do with Ben?"

"I put him in the bathroom," she relied, she had her own personal bathroom connected to her room.

"Why didn't you put him in the closet like we agreed?" I asked her.

"Because I didn't want him to touch all my clothes," Chanel said, "Are we going to hurt them?"

Chanel looked like she was getting scared, but she had no reason to be; she would be fine in the end.

"No, of course not, we are just going to use them to lure the others to Mako," I said walking over to the bathroom expecting to see 5 year old Ben tied up with duck tape across his mouth, but what I found was an empty chair, rope on the floor along with tape, and an open window above the toilet. The toilet seat was also closed and there were dirt marks from his shoes, he had climbed out; he was smarter than I thought. However, this was no problem, he would probably make a beeline to a house he recognized and inform them of what had happened just a little earlier than planned. Then I will give them the directions of what I want them to do. I don't really need the power of all three, I just need to hit their weak points, and that is that they are too nice, they would never let me hurt someone, especially a little girl, when basically all I am asking them to do is to walk into the moon pool. They probably don't even know about the blue moon, and even if they did they definitely don't know the significance of the night.

"Everything is going according to plan," Charlotte said, "Now we just have to get these two to the base before dad gets home."

"Where are you taking me?" Marie, who had kept quiet up til now, asked quietly.

"No place scary, just a temporary home," I told her as nicely as I could as I slowly untied her, "do you want a chocolate?" She nodded her head and I gave her one of the chocolates with the sleep drug in it, the same kind I gave to Beth. Of course, I was careful enough to have a few that did not have drugs, know which ones those were, and eat one in front of Beth so that she wouldn't question the drugged chocolate.

Once she was out I got everyone in the car and drove to the small remote cabin I rented out for the month and dropped them off, hands tied behind their back of course, and I will come back later, when Chanel and Chris are asleep, which is exactly around the time they should wake up.

Cleo's P.O.V.

This morning I got a call from Lucy, Elizabeth wanted to meet us to talk face to face about everything. This way we could get her trust, so I invited the other girls. We were all going to meet up, with the kids since we couldn't leave them alone and the men were at work. It was a lot of people, I did offer to have the meeting at my place, but Elizabeth insisted to have t at her place because she didn't feel safe in the house of someone she barely knows.

When all got there around 12:00.. Rikki and Emma left the work to the employees for the day since nothing particularly important needed to be done today. We started off talking about Charlotte but eventually made our way to some fun talk about our families. Elizabeth looked like she was really having a good time. The kids were out playing on the front lawn, we sat in the front room so we could see them and they all knew about stranger danger, and they all seemed to be getting along great. Joy and Cara were playing with the little ones; they were so great with little kids. I couldn't think of any way this meeting could get any better.

That was, until I saw a little boy running up to the group of Dream, Cara, Joy, and Clarabella who were playing a game of catch, and he was crying. Elizabeth and Lucy immediately got up and started for the door.

"That's Ben, Beth's son," Lucy explained, "He's only 5 years old, he shouldn't be running around all by himself."

Elizabeth reached him pretty quickly and immediately embraced him in a hug, lifted him and carried him back to the house. She said something to the kids but I couldn't hear it, and they continued playing. She set him down on the couch and instantly got a green lollipop from a bowl of candy she kept at the top of her fridge. It was apparently his favorite flavor. Then she opened it and gave it to him and sat down next to him, taking a Kleenex from the box on the table and wiping away his tears. He eventually stopped crying a bit and Elizabeth patiently waited for him to be ready to talk.

"She's great with kids," Lucy said sitting back at the table, "she works a psychiatrist for a living."

Of course we already knew that, but we all decided it best not to say anything. For a while we just sat there quietly, just staring at each other, as Elizabeth asked Ben a few questions. Eventually she turned on the TV to some cartoon show that the Ben seemed to like, he started laughing within minutes, almost completely forgetting his troubles at that moment. Then she said one more thing to him, he nodded. And she walked back over to us.

"It's not good guys," she said taking her seat back, "Beth and her 4 year old daughter Marie have been kidnapped by Charlotte."

"I guess she has begun her plan," Emma said.

"But we don't know what her plan is," I said.

"Guys, I just got a text from Charlotte," Lucy said, "It doesn't look good."

**Charlotte**

** I want all of you, Lucy, Elizabeth, Cleo, Rikki, Emma, and Bella, to come to the moon pool exactly one week from today at 9:00 if you ever want to see your best friend or her child again. Do what I say and no one gets hurt . . . too badly.**

**A/N Finally getting to the action! I hope you enjoyed & I can't wait to read your reviews! (So please leave 1 :D) HAPPY 2012! :D**


	21. Why?

**A/N Here is finally the 21****st**** chapter! Hope you enjoy! Sorry for the suspense ;)**

**R&R!**

Chapter 21: The Plan

After seeing the text the girls didn't know what to do.

"One thing's for sure," Emma said, "We can't tell the kids."

"Yeah, we don't want to scare them," Cleo said.

"So what do we do for Beth? We can't just wait a whole week not knowing where she is," Lucy said.

"We have to look for her, every day. Then if we find her and her daughter, we will only have to deal with Charlotte by herself which would definitely be much easier," Elizabeth said, "however, we do need a plan in case we don't find her ahead of time."

"We all have powers right? Together we would be much stronger than Charlotte, who only has one power," Rikki said.

"Yeah, but Charlotte is probably going to have Marie right there, using her as a shield or something," Cleo said, "I wouldn't put it past her to do so."

"That is why it is very important that we do all we can to find them beforehand," Emma said, "but what about the other kids, even if we don't tell them we have to protect them."

"I will take care of Ben for now, and it would probably be best to keep the other kids together just in case Charlotte gets any ideas," Elizabeth told the others.

"All the kids can stay at my house, I'm sure Zane won't mind," Rikki told them, "Our house is huge, and we have the best security system, Zane insisted that we get it since a certain incident with Charlotte's crazy mother and Dr. Denman."

"That sounds good, and we better be extra careful," Elizabeth said, "Sort of like a buddy system, no one can ever be alone, whether it be a friend or your husband, there is strength in numbers."

"Then who are you going to stay with since your husband is away?" Cleo said.

"You can stay with me," Lucy said.

"Okay then it is settled," Emma said. As if on que all the kids come into the house looking exhausted, it was already getting dark outside.

"Mommy I'm tired," Clarabella said to Elizabeth.

"It's okay sweetie, tonight you are going to have a sleepover with the other kids tonight," Elizabeth said, "Come with me to pack some of your things." Elizabeth led the her daughter to her room so she could get her pajamas, her favorite stuffed animal, and some clothes for the next few days.

"Is it true? Are we all going to be having a great big sleepover? Where is it going to be?" Sierra asked excitedly.

"Well you kids were getting along so great that we are going to have a great big sleepover at our house," Rikki said, "You guys can use the living room." The living room itself was giant room containing a big wide screen TV hooked up with a playstation and wii, along with two couches and one pull out chair. Plus the floor was covered in a cushy sea blue carpet, so sleeping on the floor wasn't even that bad.

So after that each parent took their child and went back to their house to get their clothes, and then they went over to the Bennett mansion. After making sure their child was going to be okay, one by one the parents left. Rikki just took Ben home along with her kids, she still had some old clothes of Seth's that he could borrow.

Sierra and Seth nobly took to the floor, Fara and Fawna took one couch, Dream and Cara took the other couch, Joy and Ben took the chair (they were small enough and neither wanted to be alone), and Clarabella slept in an old crib that Rikki set up in the room because Clarabella was only about two and hadn't ever slept anywhere but a crib. They all seemingly fell sound asleep by 10:00. At this point it seemed like a good night, but that wasn't the case for all. . .

At Charlotte's shed at about Midnight

'Where am I,' Beth thought to herself as she opened her eyes but could not move her lips or hands and all was dark.

"Mommy I'm scared," Marie cried at the opposite end of the shed.

It took a while for Beth's eyes to adjust but she almost wished they didn't. The sight that greeted her was her youngest child strapped to a chair, arms tied behind her back, and she was crying her eyes out. She looked to her mother to make everything better, but for the life of her Beth couldn't open her mouth to say a thing and she knows that was just making Marie even more scared. She couldn't do anything to get closer to comfort her scared little girl. That seemed like the worst of it, but the worst hasn't even begun. At precisely 12:10 Charlotte entered the shed.

"Did you miss me?" Charlotte asked rhetorically. As soon as she entered Marie silenced herself, sensing the danger.

"Sorry I'm a bit late, I had to read tuck a certain someone into bed, you know how kids are," Charlotte said slowly walking closer and closer to Marie.

"I brought some new clothes for you," Charlotte continued talking since no one could reply. However it wasn't until she said those words that Beth realized she was carrying a duffel bag, and out of it she pulled a small faded pink dress, big enough to fit Marie, that had blue and purple flowers on the ends. That was not just any pink dress; it was the same pink dress that Beth's father made her wear almost all the time. It was his favorite because it was her mother's when she was little, and in it she looked just like her mother when she was young. Now, looking at Marie, whom Charlotte just put the dress on, she looked just like she had looked those many years ago. Beth wondered just how Charlotte had gotten that dress.

"Your father bit the dust a couple weeks ago, they were selling his stuff on e-bay," Charlotte explained as if she could read her thoughts, "so I picked up a few things to help me through this part of my plan."

Beth didn't have time to contemplate the news of her father, because just then she did something unimaginable, she took out a knife, Beth's dad's old knife, and before anyone could react she cut a line down little Marie's arm about 1/2cm deep and 5 in long. Marie screamed in pain and Charlotte just stood in silence for the moment, looking satisfied as the terror was only beginning. Beth used all her strength in an effort to free herself to get to her daughter, but she was only able to bite the tape off her mouth enough so that she could talk. Her hands were tied too tight for her to be able to get her hands free.

"Stop! Why are you doing this Charlotte? What did I ever do to you?" Beth cried desperately.

"You are a liar, you never told anyone of your past, and I thought I could trust you! You know how I found out? By googling your name. Do you know how pathetic it is to know less about a person meeting them than googling them?" Charlotte raged, though that hardly seemed like a good enough reason, "Plus I am sure your loving husband has told you of our little fiasco."

Beth didn't even bother commenting on Charlotte's first statement, what could she say? It was a part of her past that she didn't want to remember and she feared that they would look at her differently. What Charlotte said wasn't true, she did tell Greg all about it and went to see a counselor for a couple of years after her father was convicted. It was Charlotte's last statement that caught her attention the most.

"What are you talking about?" Beth said, only partially waiting for an answer, the other part of her reason for questioning was to get Charlotte to monologue long enough.

"Well you remember that Christmas party before you two hooked up?" Charlotte snidely remarked, "Well let's just say we hit a homerun."

The shock of this new news caused Beth to almost totally forget the earlier news of her father. Questions raced through her head. How could she do this to me? She knew I liked him! Does he have feelings for her? Why hasn't he told me anything about this? Yet, she knew she had to stay focused, she couldn't show weakness to Charlotte, she had to save her daughter.

"That doesn't matter. That was years ago," Beth shouted, "That is no reason for you to hurt Marie!"

"He left me! He left me for you! Even though I was clearly the better option," Charlotte exclaimed.

"Then it is me you want! Marie has no part in this! Please let her go!" Beth cried.

"No, you know as well as I do that your major weakness is the people you love being hurt," Charlotte said holding the knife threateningly to Marie's neck as she whimpered softly, "plus, if I'm gonna get what I want, I need some sort of proof that I am willing to do whatever it takes."

With that she sliced another cut on Marie's soft, vulnerable cheek, while she let out a shriek that you would swear could be heard around the world.

**A/N I know I am so late! Again, I don't have a lot of time and when I do I don't have ideas :P BUT I hope you are able to be patient with me, and please enjoy the times when I do update :) Please Read & Review w/your own opinions on the story so far! ;)**


	22. Safe for Now

**A/N Thank you to all the people who read and review on this story! Both my readers who have been with me since the beginning and the ones that have recently read this story, it is thanks to you that I remembered there are people out there waiting for this chapter. Sorry if it does not meet expectations, but there is still a couple more chapters before the real action begins. Now, please Read & Review!**

Chapter 22: Safe for Now

Beth's P.O.V.

Once Charlotte left I was finally able to come up with a plan to free myself from these ropes. I ended up sliding my hands over the chair and hopping (because my feet were tied) to a small bucket of water in the corner (probably for drinking or something), and dipped them in. I turned into a mermaid, I still wasn't used to the transformation, but it was the least of my troubles now. The cool water felt pretty good on my rope burns though it also stung, but I knew that what I was about to do would cause me the worst pain I've felt since I was sixteen. Once I took my hands out I slowly curled my right hand into a fist to use my power on the rope, hoping to cause it to break. It hurt like hell, but I had to keep strong, for Marie. After about 10 min of constant pain as the rope burned against my wrist, it finally broke. I was hardly able to use my power to transform back. Then, I used the new freedom of my hands, now covered in blisters, to untie the rope around my ankles which took another long ten minutes of pain.

All this time Marie just quietly sobbed in the corner, her knees pulled up to her chest and her head burred in her knees. Throughout the time I told her encouraging things like "everything is going to be okay" and "don't worry sweetheart, I'm coming," between surges of pain, trying to sound calm as I said them. But there was no way to soothe her from so far away. That is why the first thing I did when I was free of the ropes was go over to my little girl. I got a better look at the wound, it was pretty clean cut though it might need stitches, and I ripped off a piece of my shirt to press against the wound and another piece to tie it to her arm. Then I held her in my arms, sitting in the corner, rocking her slowly, until she fell asleep.

She is a very heavy sleeper, which is a really good thing in this case, so once she was out I laid her down on the floor and decided to try and find a way out, there was no question that the longer I stay the worse the torture is going to get. I tried the door though I knew it would be locked, it was worth a try. There was only one window, the only reason I could actually see what was around me, but it was up too high and there were steel bars blocking it. Of course the place was made of wood, so I couldn't use my power on it, I would just end up killing Marie and myself in the process. I pounded against the wall in defeat, there was no way out, Charlotte was too careful to leave one.

That is when I remembered it, my lucky pocket knife. Well technically it's not lucky, I keep it just in case something happens, for self defense. I haven't used it for so long I forgot about it. I actually kept it in my shoe, weird right? But if I kept it in my pocket then Charlotte, or any other crazy I would need a knife to deal with, would have taken it; she had taken my phone and wallet from that very place. Sure enough, I found it in my right gym shoe; it was kind of strange that I didn't even feel the discomfort from it anymore. I tried to stick it in the wall, but it was too thick, it would have taken hours to make a whole even big enough for Marie to get through, probably even longer because of my hands. But the window was big enough for Marie to fit through! All I had to do was dig into the wood around the bars and eventually they would come loose! I don't know how long it is going to take, but at least it would be hardly noticeable if I didn't finish by morning and Charlotte came.

I immediately got to work. I had to stand on my tippy toes on top of the chair I was previously stuck in and I had to stop every ten minutes because my hands hurt like hell, but I kenwthe end would be worth it! There was no stopping me now!

Sierra's P.O.V.

I couldn't get to sleep. I couldn't help feeling that something was wrong. Of course there was the obvious fact that if nothing were wrong we wouldn't be having this massive sleepover with a bunch of little kids we just met today. But there was something else, something that happened while we were playing outside, in front of Elizabeth's house. I was putting everyone's thoughts to the back of my mind, but when Ben came running I heard his thoughts which were full of fear of aunt Charlotte and cousin Chanel and crying for his mother and sister. I couldn't tell what happened because almost right after the adults took him inside I was overwhelmed by another set of thoughts that caught my attention more. They were my mom's thoughts, thoughts like _This year for Sierra's birthday we are going to get her . . ._ and _Maybe I should get Sierra that . . . _The worst part was that she never completed these thoughts, but they took my mind away from other more important things because they got me curious, I thought I was going to find out something she didn't want me to know. Now I think differently, now I see that she knew I would be listening and purposely thought things that would direct my attention away from the problem because she didn't want me to know about it, she was in control. This made me a little mad at her for controlling me like that, but it made me more worried, what could be so bad that she had to hide it from me? That is what I kept up thinking about.

It probably had to do with Ben, his mom, his sister, and Charlotte . . . She wouldn't. Would she? Would Charlotte really kidnap his family for no apparent reason? No, there had to be a reason, right? A good reason too if you're going to do such a horrid thing, but, then again, Aunt Charlotte didn't seem like the most reasonable person. That must be what happened, it is the only thing that makes sense!

_What makes sense?_

The new voice in my head startled me, I guess Seth is awake.

_What are you doing up?_

_Your loud thoughts, I couldn't tune them out! What are you so worried about?_

_Didn't you hear all my thoughts genius! Isn't it obcious._

_No, the whole time I was trying to tune them out and have a nice dream; I didn't hear anything but random words here and there. When you received your revelation, your thoughts were even louder, and my curiosity got the better of me._

_Well, I am pretty sure that Aunt Charlotte kidnapped Ben's mom and sister._

_That's crazy, why would she do something like that?_

_I don't know. She's crazy! Mom never liked her, she used to be mean to her and her friends when first met. The real thing we need to worry about is what we are going to do with this information. We have to do our best to help them._

_We? Since when did I become part of your plan._

_Since you woke up and invaded my head with your curious thoughts_

_Touché, but we can't do anything tonight. It is already two in the morning!_

_I guess you're right, but the longer we wait the more pain Charlotte can inflict on her victims_

'_inflict,' nice word choice vocab wiz. And if we go in without a plan we could just become more victims._

_Hey, I actually paid attention in vocab class. Instead of sleeping like you._

_When did you become so attentive?_

_Probably about the same time you became so cautious. Where is the guy who would willingly jump straight into the battlefield without any fear of what could happen?_

_That is a video game! This is real life, they are totally different. In real life there are no extra lives . . . _

_Look at you being all philosophical when people's lives are at stake!_

_Fine, I'll make a deal with you._

_I'm listening._

_We go to bed now, get some rest, and tomorrow night we will leave after lights out and look around. Maybe your mind reading will catch something and lead us to where they are being held. We could even bring the dogs, they have got to be somewhat good at tracking._

We knew the land pretty well and we were pretty strong for eight year olds, so it wasn't really a big deal of going out and wandering in the night. Plus our fire power kind of makes it seriously easy to deal with creeps. Of course our parents would disagree, they would allow us to do so in the daylight, but we had a bedtime for a reason, they didn't want us outside after dark.

_Fine._

_Maybe then we could even get the others to come with._

I knew by others he meant Fara and Fawna. Cara and Dream were our friends too, but they were definitely not the adventure type, they were the girly type. Fara was pretty adventurous and Fawna was really smart, both skills that would come in handy in this case.

_Sounds good, but no guarantees that I will be able to fall asleep._

_You better, because if you don't then I will never get any sleep! And then I will definitely be too tired to help you tomorrow._

_Okay fine, you win, I will try my hardest._

I then let my mind drift into the world of dreams . . .

**A/N Thanks for reading & I hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review, they are greatly appreciated. It is your reviews that motivate me to continue writing this story, they are the fuel to my fire ;)**


	23. A Dark Night part 1

**A/N I am so sorry, I understand how confusing this story must be getting, and I am seriously trying to fix that. I am running out of ideas for this story, but I think I finally got the ending. Thank you to all who stuck with the story, especially those of you who reviewed, and I hope this chapter makes up for the wait. Enjoy!**

Chapter 23

Charlotte's P.O.V.

The plan was finally set in motion. Sure, it is a bit different than I originally planned, but the outcome should be the same. I will get Lewis, I will be the only mermaid, and we will live happily ever after. Chanel will stay with her father, she has a little too much of him anyway. Dream will probably have to be put up for adoption though; her mother won't remember her and I don't want any reminders of Cleo around for Lewis. That was the effect this special moon had, it takes away mermaid powers plus any memories made during their time as a mermaid; for Cleo, Rikki, Emma, and especially Bella, this meant basically their whole lives. Lewis and I can start over together, like nothing ever came between us. We were meant to be together, I know it.

All I have to do is make sure Beth and Marie stay in that stupid shack I found on Mako; it makes for a pretty good prison cell. I also need Marie to be ready for her big show the night of the full moon. I need proof that I am not bluffing when I say there will be consequences if they don't do what I say. I have a whole week to do that though, for now I can just have fun.

They probably won't call the police. They know I will tell their secret. Plus, they have no proof! This plan is genius! Still, best to stay away from my secret place until it gets dark.

For now, I think I will pay one lonely father and husband a visit. Greg is a nice guy, I did have a thing with him years ago, but that was just a fling. It was a good tool for torture on Beth though. I may have even ruined their marriage. How cool is that?

Her house is just ten minutes away and, just as I thought, Greg was home. He is probably worried about Beth and took the day off waiting for her to come home and trying to figure out where she may have gone. Time to make sure he doesn't do anything too rash.

"Oh, great thing you are here Charlotte," Greg said letting me into the house, "do you have any idea where Beth and the kids are? I haven't seen them since I got home last night, and she isn't answering her cell."

"Calm down Greg," I said seating him on the couch in the front room.

"How can I? What if she is in trouble?" He said freaking out.

"Oh she's not," I said setting up for my big lie, "How can I put this gently . . . she ran away from you."

"What? How can you say that? We were perfect together," He said exasperated.

"Well apparently not, she said there was some trouble," I said trying to be soothing, but I could feel an irresistible smile playing on my lips, "she moved away, didn't tell me where, and took the kids with her."

"You're lying!" He said in sudden anger which immediately put me on the defensive, "There was nothing wrong between us and she would have never told you anything before talking to me about it first. What did you do to her? And my children?"

"Why would I do anything to them?" I said getting a bit angry myself. But I couldn't keep that smile off my face; it was fun to see him upset.

"WHAT DID YOU DO!" He screamed frustrated, his face getting as red as a tomato as he got up and began pacing, stopping in front of me, "I always knew there was something sinister about you. I've known it since that night at the Christmas party. But I never thought you would stoop so LOW. That night was a mistake!"

The nerve of him! Who does he think he is to talk to me like that? Oh Beth will pay for this. It was about time to order in the troops anyway.

"Well if that's the way you feel, then I'll just leave you to your little pity party. I didn't need to come here and tell you; I took time out of my day to try to help you, but you just push me away like you pushed away your family," I said stomping out of there and slamming the door to make my point. If I can help it, he will never see his dear loved ones again!

Rikki's P.O.V.

Today was the day we begin our unofficial search for a girl I have only seen once. We were all meeting at my place. Emma and I called in extra, trusted, staff to make up for our absence. Bella and Cleo are of course off because there is no school. Elizabeth called in sick today, apparently the first time she has done so in years. Lucy had the day off, so she was okay. However, all their husbands were either at work or away. Therefore, I made Zane, who had the day off take the children, to the zoo or something. Except Ben who was still shaken and only stuck with people he knew. We just needed them out of the house while we talked. Especially Sierra, I know she would try to make this all her business if she found out, she would want to take matters into her own hands. But she is only eight years old.

"So, what are we going to do?" I asked them all. All six of us were sitting around the dining room table.

"Shouldn't we call the police?" Lucy said, "She has been missing at least twenty-four hours; isn't that what you are supposed to do in this case?"

"Well Yeah, normally, but we are putting ourselves and your friend in danger. She may spread our secret, even though it is her secret too," Emma explained, "Plus, we don't have enough evidence to put her away right away; she would probably hurt Beth and Marie even more once she got news of the cops tracking her down. Who knows where he super secret prison is; it could be miles away for all we know."

"Well your power is transportation right? Can't you just transport her here?" Elizabeth asked hopefully. I actually can't believe none of us thought of this before.

"Well I don't really know what she looks like or where she is," Emma said doubtfully, "Plus, I am not sure it works on people."

"Oh come on Em, just give it a shot," I told her.

"Fine, but don't blame me if it doesn't work," she said closing her eyes and concentrating hard. Everyone stared at her with hopeful eyes. We stayed that way for about ten minutes, and absolutely nothing happened.

"I told you guys," she said defiantly.

"Okay, well we can still try to look for them," Bella said trying to lighten the mood, which worked because of her new power, "I suggest we split up and search everywhere. Mostly along the beach and in forest areas; that seems like the kind of place Charlotte would bring them."

So, we split up into three groups, we decided it would be best if each of us had a partner in case they ran into trouble. Elizabeth and Lucy of course chose to go together; they went into the city to see if they could find any creepy, abandoned buildings. Plus, they wanted to take ben home and tell Greg, Beth's husband, what had happened in person, and to reassure him that they are doing all they can to find Beth and Marie. Emma went with Cleo; they were going to some forestland that was apparently well east; they said they had gone camping there before when they were little. I went with Bella, and we were going to Mako, where I truly believe she is hidden, but it will be hard because of the great span of dense forest, it couldn't all be covered in one day. We decided to meet up at 7:00 PM at a specific spot on beach on the mainland.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~6:45 PM~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We got nothing, though I couldn't shake the feeling that something was out there. Again, there simply wasn't enough time, and I had no idea where to look. I figure we covered about three-fourths of the island and hadn't seen or heard anything too suspicious.

When the time came to head back we were in the middle of the forest of Mako, a part we had never been to before, and we were kind of lost. Still, Mako being an island, we knew that if we just walked straight we would find ocean and be able to swim back.

After a while the trees became really thick, and it became hard to even keep track of each other. Then I heard it, a distinct sound set apart from the others, it sounded almost like sawing. I looked back to where Bella was, but she was nowhere in sight. She probably just got lost in the woods, but I knew this sound meant something and that I should follow it. I could always call to check up on Bella later.

I quietly stepped through the foliage of trees, the sound growing louder as I neared it. I happened upon a small wooden cabin. It looked very strongly built but only the size of one room. The sound was coming from the only visible window, which was blocked by three iron bars. It was in a small clearing so, seeing no immediate danger, I walked over to it. I came face to face with Beth.

"Is Charlotte there?" I asked quickly after a look of shock passes between us on first sight. After one look at the knife in her hands I realized she was trying to dig out the bars; which really was a good idea.

"No, she hasn't been here all day, but that means she is coming soon," Beth replied quickly.

"It's okay, I'll get you out of there. Hand me the pocket knife, I could use it to pick the lock," I said but she just answered with a frightened stare directed behind me. "What?"

Before I could turn around something hard hit me in the head and I blacked out.

Sierra's P.O.V.

Today we got to go to the zoo with my dad. It was really fun, whenever I go somewhere with all my friends all our parents usually come. We totally got to mess with him; I could tell we made him angry. His thoughts were all mad and directed at mom for dumping us on him on his day off; they made me laugh. We even got into this whole fight about what animal to see, everyone wanted to see something different. Cara totally cheated though, she used her mind control to make dad choose the bird house; she loved to hear them sing. Still, we eventually got to see all the animals and then some, we wouldn't let dad sit down, excluding a fifteen-minute lunch break. At about five he looked totally beat, and we all agreed it was time to go home and give him a break.

When we got home we all just lounged around in the living room on the second floor watching television; Dream and Cara even fell asleep. I took this as a chance to tell Fara and Fawna about my plan. Fara agreed to it in a heartbeat, but Fawna thought it was pretty risky, though the strength of our powers assured her enough to come with us. Now all we had to do was wait.

I was just lying on the couch mindlessly petting Mittens when at about 7:30 we got a call at the house. I saw on the caller ID it was aunt Emma and I eagerly picked it up.

"Hello?" I said.

"Hey Sierra, can I talk to your dad?" Emma replied.

"What for?" I said hoping to get some details.

"Get off the phone now Sierra; we've got some grown up things to talk about," dad said having picked up the phone from downstairs. I didn't argue and hung up right away, but I did tune into his thoughts.

_Rikki's gone missing? Charlotte got her? I need to go there right away. The kids . . . they should be fine, they're probably already asleep anyway. I'm going whether Emma thinks it's a good idea or not, Rikki needs me more than the kids who will be safe in the house, I'll just set the alarm._ Then he started coming upstairs.

"Guys pretend to be asleep now!" I said to Seth, Fara, and Fawna who were all lounging on the floor watching some dumb cartoon.

"Why?" Seth asked.

"Just do it, I'll explain later," I told them quickly before lying down and shutting my eyes. Right after I heard my dad come in. After a bit I heard the television go off and the door close. When I opened my eyes the room was black. Still, I waited until I heard dad's thoughts leading down the stairs and out the door till I spoke up.

"Guys, this mission just got personal," I reported.

"What do you mean?" Seth asked.

"Charlotte has taken our mother Seth! We have to go now," I told them.

"Okay, lets do it!" Fara said eagerly.

"What about Dream and Cara?" Fawna asked.

"Best to just leave them be, they probably wouldn't want to go anyway," I stated walking towards the door and the others followed, including Seth's obedient dog Scruffy. Mittens just decided it was time for a nap, she was too lazy to want to come with us anyway. The front door was locked and the security system turned on, but Fawna was able to disable them with just one simple thought.

When we got near the pier I saw my dad preparing the speedboat to take to Mako. Seth, Scruffy, and Fara easily snuck in, concealed by the black of night, and hid under the blanket. Scruffy was surprisingly quiet, like he knew somewhat what was going on. So while they rode in the boat Fawna and I swam.

When we got there dad went straight into the woods with some sort of weapon in his hand that I couldn't quite make out. After I dried myself off and Seth dried Fawna off with our hot breath, we decided to walk along the beach from a while and enter the forest from a different location. We hardly got 10 meters away before I heard Cara's thoughts calling to us.

"What are you guys doing here?" I said turning to where Cara and Dream had surfaced.

"Dream had a premonition involving my mother; we left as soon as we could and got her as fast as we could," Cara explained as I dried them off, "By the way, you guys left the security system off and the doors unlocked, you better hope nobody breaks in."

Dream shook like a leaf besides Cara, despite the warmth my breath provided. She was shaking from fear, not the cold.

"It was terrible . . . and your mom was there too . . . Charlotte has gone mad . . . the other girl, she almost died!" Dream squeaked in a voice so quiet I could hardly hear what she was saying. She was so shaken with fear we were tempted to just sit and rest for a while to calm her down, but she insisted that they must get to Charlotte's secret spot fast. So after no more than a few minutes we headed off into the depths of the forest, just hoping that we wouldn't be too late.

**A/N Again, I am so sorry for how long it took me to write out this chapter, but better late than never right? There is no way I would ever stop writing a story before it is finished, so don't worry about that. There are only a couple chapters left for this story, and I have made a promise to myself that it will be completed by the end of summer break :D So I hope you continue to read and please leave a review! :DDD**


	24. A Dark Night part 2

**A/N Thank you to all you people out there who read and reviewed this story, it means so much to me 3. I had a lot of trouble with this story, it took me a long time to write, but it is finally coming to a close. There will probably be only one or two more chapters. There may be a sequel, something more about the kids when they are older, but I am still thinking it over.**

**As I have said before, I understand the story can be quite confusing so here, on the request of Patricia H, is a chart of the couples and their children:**

**Parents**

**Child(ren)**

**Emma and Ash**

**Fara and Fawna (twins)**

**Rikki and Zane**

**Seth and Sierra (twins)**

**Cleo and Lewis**

**Dream**

**Bella and Will**

**Cara**

**Charlotte and Christopher**

**Chanel**

**Beth and Greg**

**Ben and Marie**

**Lucy and Drake**

**Joy**

**Elizabeth and Derek**

**Abigail and Clarabella**

Chapter 24

Fawna's P.O.V.

My heart was racing as we entered the dense Mako forest. I gripped the hand of my best friend Sierra, who stood right by my side, as hard as I could, but she didn't complain; she was gripping my hand just as hard. She and I were leading our small group of eight year-olds. As much as I hated it, I knew it was necessary. Sierra could hear thoughts, so she would be the first to know if we were approaching Charlotte's lair. I had the power of telekinesis, which was one of the best-developed powers for fighting, just in case we actually had to confront Charlotte. Cara's power of mind control would be good too, but she was busy comforting Dream who was still shaky, both of them were walking right behind Sierra and I. Dream had told us that none of us had been seen in her dream, so there was still hope if we got there soon enough. Seth and Fara were right behind Dream and Cara. The main reason was because, being human, they would need the most time to run away to a boat or something if a fight became too much, the rest of us could just run in any direction and eventually reach the coast and jump into the ocean. Scruffy, Seth's yorkie, was behind him so he could easily alert the group if someone was coming from behind. Another reason this set up was beneficial was because if we were attacked from the front or back we could easily fend off the person with our fire and ice breath. That is Seth and Fara's only power, and they would love to get the chance to really use it.

We walked for what seemed like a year, though it was probably only an hour. The whole time I wanted to just wake up from this nightmare. I could tell Fara thought the same, through our telepathic connection, but we both kept straight faces and kept moving forward. This was our reality and there was no turning back.

"I hear your mum, they're going that way," Sierra whispered to me pointing to our right while proceeding to point to in the other direction, "so we are going to go that way. This way we can cover more ground."

I hesitated, but nodded in response and we both mentally sent the directions, I to Fara and Sierra to Seth. Knowing mum was so close, close enough that Sierra could hear her thoughts, made me just want to run through the trees and to her side, wrap her in a hug and cry. I knew she would pick me up and comfort me, take me home and lay me down to sleep telling me "It's going to be okay." I would give anything for that, but that reminded me that Sierra and Cara and even Ben couldn't do the same. It was their mums whose lives were at stake, and we had to save them. They were acting brave and so should I. So I gathered up my courage and continued to stick by my friends.

"We're almost there . . . I-I recognize this place," Dream spoke up after we had traveled for a few more minutes. I looked to Sierra, who was listening intently to something the rest of us couldn't hear.

"She's right," she sighed in a whisper, "I can hear muffled thoughts, but we have to get closer so I can understand them."

"Are you sure it's safe?" Cara asked.

"Yeah, I'll be able to hear if anyone gets close enough to us," Sierra assured. With that we continued walking just as we had been, and before long a small cabin came into view.

As we saw it we hid behind a nearby bush. All we could do now was observe, try to figure out our situation before we did anything rash. Seth was busy trying to keep Scruffy quiet. Fara and Cara where surveying the scene, even going as far as to walk around the cabin, though it was risky we needed to know what we were dealing with. Dream was very anxious, telling us that we needed to act fast or it would be too late; it took all my strength to keep her from running to the cabin herself. Still, it was Sierra I was worried about. She sat hugging her legs close with her head between her knees, her eyes closed and her brows creased as she concentrated on whatever was going on inside of the cabin.

Suddenly her head rose and she whisper-screamed "Mum!" and shot up and ran to the barred window on the cabin on the side we were near.

"Sierra!" I whisper screamed jumping up and following her after telling Dream "Stay here". I walked over as quietly as I could to the barred window and looked through it with her. I instantly found the reason for her outburst. Aunt Rikki was sitting on a chair her hands tied behind her back, meaning she couldn't use her powers. Her legs were tied together as well and there was a piece of tape covering her mouth. Still the most alarming part was that steady stream of red liquid, blood, flowing from a fresh cut that covered practically all of the right side of her face. There was a man in front of her holding what seemed to be some kind of whip; he was the man that had hurt her.

The man said something like "How does that feel sweetheart? That'll teach you to mess with my business you power-freak!" Yet she didn't look scared or hurt, though she did grimace from the pain; she mostly looked irritated.

"Mum knows we're here, she wants us to leave," Sierra explained in a whisper so quiet I had to strain to hear. I could see she had tears in her eyes, and probably did want to just run away from this horrific scene. Yet she still shook her head 'no,' because we couldn't just leave, not when we had the power to stop this. Therefore I decided to survey the situation. Ben's mum was sitting next to Aunt Rikki; she had a black eye that was just beginning to swell and change color. A little girl lay on the floor unconscious, still breathing, next to Ben's mum – his sister Marie – and she was hurt the most. On one arm she had two cuts that looked like a cross, and on her face were two cuts extending from her lips on either side making it look like some creepy smile. She had most likely passed out from the blood loss. Aunt Bella lay unconscious as well, we could see her chest moving slowly and knew she was breathing. Her hands and feet were tied and her mouth taped shut, in the corner opposite of Marie. Still, Charlotte and the strange man were the only other people in the room, and they were too busy chatting away meaningless words instead of worrying if they'll get caught; we could easily overpower them.

"Okay, now I have mentally sent a message to Seth. Him and the others are going to search for the other adults, all of us can handle these two," Sierra whispered to me, suddenly regaining her confidence to my surprise, but I didn't know what she meant by 'all of us,' "Now untie them."

"What? How?" I asked incredulously, how could I just untie them from here? She just gave me a dumb look, the one that says 'Seriously? Isn't it obvious?" but I remained oblivious as to how in the world I was supposed to untie them.

"With your telikinesis," came a voice from behind us both, it was Dream. She surprised me, but Sierra had probably heard her thoughts.

"I thought I told you to stay back," I whispered to her, but she just shrugged in response.

"Did you really think she could just sit back and watch? Besides, that is what I meant, use your telekinesis to untie the ropes," Sierra whispered to me. Why hadn't I thought of that? I felt so stupid, but instead of dwelling on it, because there wasn't any time, I turned back to the scene. I started with Aunt Rikki, she would be the most help to us if we got caught before I could get to all of them.

I started with her hands; they were behind the chair and out of sight. Still I made sure the rope didn't make a sound as it hit the ground. She looked surprised for a moment, but covered it quickly so as not to lead Charlotte and the man onto the situation. Then I quickly but stealthily undid the ties on her legs, sliding the rope under the chair. I couldn't take off the tape from her mouth because that would be too obvious.

I was going to do Ben's mum next, but I didn't get the chance. The guy had finished monologuing and was going in to strike Aunt Rikki on her left cheek. At the last minute she raised her left hand and grabbed the whip, whacking him in the head with the other end. He fell to the ground and was in shock for a minute, and I took the chair and knocked him unconscious before he could do anything else.

Charlotte caught on to the strangeness and turned to the window, to us. I thought she would run over and try to stab us, but instead she threw it straight towards my face! It was a surprise to Dream and I, but not to Sierra, she had heard Charlotte's thoughts. Before I could get over the shock Sierra pushed me down, out of the way of the knife. We both watched as it landed harmlessly no more than a meter away from us.

Dream immediately went back to the window. I couldn't tell what she did, but no more than a few seconds later I heard something hit the ground.

"I used my power to get Charlotte wet and she turned into mermaid form," Dream informed us, "She hit her head as she fell and is unconscious."

"Are you okay?" Sierra asked coming over to where I lay on the ground, "I'm so sorry, I had to push you or the knife would have hit you in the face."

"Yeah I'm fine, and thanks for that," I replied getting up and brushing the dirt off my bum.

"Are you girls alright?" Came a familiar voice from just behind me in the trees.

"Mummy!" I screamed turning and running up to her as she came through the trees into the clearing. I jumped straight into her arms and she held me close.

"Are you alright?" she repeated, "What happened? How did you kids get here?"

I tried to tell her what I had seen but my throat went dry and the memories just brought tears to my eyes. So instead I wrapped my arms tightly around her neck to make sure she wouldn't leave me, rested my head on shoulders, and let my tears fall.

"Shh, don't worry, it's all going to be okay now," mum said patting me softly on the back soothingly. She had no need for words though; as long as I was in her arms I knew I was safe.

**A/N Thank you so much for reading this chapter, I hope it was worth the wait. Please review me with your opinion or any questions you may have. :)**


	25. The Tables are Turned

**A/N Sorry for the wait for this chapter, but I hope its length and content make up for it. Please R&R! :)**

Chapter 25: The Tables are Turned

**Elizabeth's P.O.V.**

I can honestly say that today has been the craziest day of my entire life. First Lucy and I took Ben to Greg, his father and Beth's husband. He told us about the visit Charlotte had made earlier that day and how afterwards he had called the police to report his wife and daughter being kidnapped by Charlotte. He angrily told us how the police had said that, due to the fact that the mother and child had only been missing one day and the person he reported having kidnapped them had had a very friendly relationship with them and had no record, the case could not be taken at the moment. They had said that they were too busy at the moment with cases of higher importance, but to call again in a week if they are still missing, then they promised they would look more into it. It was then our job to console him, convince him that there were many people we knew looking for Beth and Marie at this moment and that we would find them. I eventually convinced him that taking care of Ben should be his priority at the moment, because there was nothing he could do at the moment for his wife and daughter. Ben had been through a pretty traumatic experience, and it would be good for him to have the comfort of his father.

It took hours to convince Greg to stay put for the time being, but it was necessary. There is no telling what danger he could get himself into when dealing with Charlotte. After we left his house we just kind of walked around a little to nowhere in particular, we didn't really know what to look for in the city. Mostly Lucy and I kept checking our cell phones, hoping to get a call from one of the other girls saying they've found Beth, but that never happened. So when the time had come to meet up with the group Lucy and I had basically given up hope that we would find Beth today. When we arrived at the spot though, only two girls, Emma and Cleo, were there waiting for us. We waited at least half an hour for Bella and Rikki before we allowed ourselves to assume the worst, that they too had been kidnapped by Charlotte. However, that meant that Charlotte had to be on Mako Island, which narrowed our search down. Yet Charlotte is smart enough to know that kidnapping them would put us on her trail and who knows what she would do to them, therefore we all agreed it best to take action tonight.

Emma and Cleo made some calls and then we proceeded to head to Mako . . . by swimming. Don't get me wrong, I am a mermaid, but I really didn't like swimming as one. My friends and I have been mermaids for about a year now, but it still just doesn't feel right to me. It is fun sometimes, when I am just swimming with my friends, but I am always scared someone is going to find out what I am and expose me to the world. That is probably the main reason neither I nor Lucy and Beth have told our husbands about what we have become because we have no idea how they would react. I'm pretty sure my husband would tell his parents what I am, file for divorce, and later publish a best-selling novel called 'Married to a Fish.' Okay, well maybe it won't go exactly like that, but we don't love each other in the first place so I bet he would take that as a great reason for his parents so he could file for divorce; why would his parents promote a marriage between him and a woman who is half fish? Believe me if our relationship was based on feelings for each other, we wouldn't have married in the first place. We get along just fine, I bet we could've been great friends, but he is nothing like the guy I dreamed of marrying.

Anyway, we swam there quickly, getting there in no more than ten minutes, but then we had to drag ourselves up the shore and wait at least half an hour for our tails to dry. It was the longest half hour of my life! Not too long after we dried, four men came in a couple boats to meet us; apparently they are the husbands of Cleo, Emma, Bella, and Rikki. They had told us that their husbands knew before they were married, because they had been mermaids for a long time. Even each of their first-born children were born mermaids and had powers. I had never met them before, but I didn't doubt that they would be a great help in finding/fighting Charlotte and rescuing the girls. Cleo's husband, Lewis, who was a doctor and had brought some medical supplies with him to treat the wounded, was especially helpful. Either way, we wandered around aimlessly for a good two hours with no success when three kids came up to us. I recognized them as Seth, Fara, and Cara; they explained that they knew the situation and had come to the island to help. They even surprised me by saying that they knew where Charlotte's cabin was, where she was holding Beth, Marie, Rikki, and Bella captive. Needless to say we eagerly followed them back to the site.

I had no idea what I expected, but it was definitely not at all what we found when we got there. The other three kids were there, Sierra, Fawna, and Dream; they seemed unharmed except for that fact that they looked as if they had seen ghosts. That may be just an expression, but I have no doubt that they had seen something equally, if not more, horrific than ghosts. Fawna and Dream immediately ran to their mothers while Sierra ran to her father, Zane who picked her up and held her close with one arm because his other one was linked to Seth. This was normal behavior for children who had seen something traumatic, but it did not help us understand the situation inside. However, it wasn't long before the door to the cabin opened.

The door was on the right side of the cabin from where we were standing and came out in a way that it blocked view of the person exiting, and I could feel the tension rising in our group as we waited for the person to be revealed. I expected it to be Charlotte, I bet that's what the others expected too, but again I was surprised. It took a while but eventually a blonde head came into view, I recognized it as that of Rikki and not long after making this discovery did I realize that the reason she was taking so long exiting the cabin was because she was dragging an unconscious Bella as well. It seemed like she needed help, but for some reason I could not get myself to move. Still, I wasn't the only one shocked at this sudden turn of events, it seemed nobody had moved an inch. When she looked up and saw our great group a snide smile came to her face.

"You know, I could use a little help here," she remarked irritated, immediately the group, excluding Lucy and myself, went over to her. Upon closer examination I noticed that she had a long scratch on the right side of her face and her right hand was dripping with blood. Needless to say Zane went to her immediately and Lewis took out some supplies and began the process of cleaning and bandaging the wounds. I could see Will was doing his best to wake Bella up, but she didn't seem to be responding. However these were not the people Lucy and I had come here for, we hardly knew them. After a few endless minutes of waiting for our friend to appear out of that door too, as well as she had been before she was taken, Lucy and I wordlessly agreed to check the cabin together.

When we got there we found Beth sitting in a chair cradling little Marie who was a bloody mess and lay limp in her arms. Desperate tears made their way down Beth's cheeks and dropped onto Marie's unchanging features. For just a second I thought Marie was dead, but as we quietly drew nearer I saw that she was indeed breathing, though very slowly. Lucy burst with tears as she kneeled down next to Beth who barely seemed to notice our existence. I put a comforting hand on her shoulder and said softly, "Don't worry everything is going to be okay, we are all going to be fine." She looked up for a second but didn't respond before turning back to her daughter; I then went to the open door and called for Lewis. He came almost immediately and Beth willingly let him examine Marie, though she wouldn't let him take Marie from her arms, and he began cleaning Marie's wounds with what I am guessing is some sort of disinfectant.

"She must have fainted from the loss of blood, and these wounds will most likely need to be stitched," Lewis reported, "I do not have the supplies to stitch the wounds up right now, I didn't know what kind of injuries I would be dealing with, but I will tightly bandage them to keep more blood from leaving her body. Still, I can assure you that the first thing we will do when we get back to the mainland is go to the hospital."

"Oh Beth, your hand!" Lucy cried as we both caught first sight of her hand as she tenderly stroked Marie's little face. Her right hand was bright red and covered with blisters, some of which were oozing, and there were cuts around her wrist probably from the rope; she just simply showed us her other hand which was in the same condition, like it was no big deal.

"What happened?" I managed to ask.

"What does it matter?" she vaguely replied still holding tightly to Marie.

"Lewis, you must do something!" I told him, "The cuts could get infected."

"I could clean the wounds and wrap them up, but you wouldn't be able to hold Marie afterwards. The antiseptic I have is really strong, works really well, but will sting very badly on open wounds; you won't be able to hold anything," Lewis said to Beth who held Marie tighter though it must have hurt.

"I can hold her Beth, you know you can trust me," Lucy said tenderly, putting a reassuring hand on Beth's shoulder. Beth hesitated, looking from Lucy to Marie to her hands and back again, before eventually relinquishing Marie into the hands of a trusted friend.

While Lewis took care of Beth and Marie I looked around the cabin, there I found two unconscious bodies on the floor, Charlotte, in mermaid form, and a man I had never seen before but whom I knew was her partner in crime. That is when it hit me; this was an emergency and now we had enough evidence to accuse Charlotte and her helper without them getting the chance to do any more harm. I quickly pulled out my phone and immediately typed in the emergency number in Australia, '000' . . . only to find that I had no signal whatsoever on mako island! I sighed loudly as I put my phone back into my pocket and turned back to my friends thinking 'Now what do we do?'

**Rikki's P.O.V.**

Bella eventually became conscious after at least fifteen long minutes of sticking smelling salts by her nose. I was very glad, I had almost thought she was a goner when Barry, or whatever his real name was, hit her hard in the head with his fist and she fell limp to the floor. Seeing her chest move up and down showed me she was, at least, still breathing. When she awoke she said that she had a major headache from the blows she suffered. I figured she probably had a concussion too, but that is for the doctors to decide.

I felt my head still throbbing from the blow I had received that had rendered me unconscious. When I had regained consciousness I was inside the cabin, gagged and tied to a chair alongside Beth; Bella was tied on the floor and her mouth was duck taped shut but she was conscious at this time. I figured she had been knocked out, like myself, and both of us where dragged in here and tied up before we could recover. I also saw Charlotte talking to the man I thought I would never have to see again in my entire life, Barry Rollins. I still don't know if that is his real name, but I do know he went to prison, He probably had finished his sentence by now and was out for revenge, I knew that wouldn't be good at all. I looked over to Bella trying to show the distress in my facial features, but she didn't have a clue who that guy was, it never really came up in conversation. Surprisingly, she winked at me, and then threw herself into a coughing fit. Hesitating for only a minute or two Charlotte removed the tape from her mouth. Then she began to talk to them and act happy, making them happy too; in other words, using her power to control their emotions. I thought it was brilliant but I could tell Beth thought Bella was crazy; who in the world would be happy they were kidnapped? Of course, she was probably even more confused when the kidnappers engaged in the small talk with her. It worked for a while, she almost got them to let her go so they could chat more over coffee at some small coffee shop she had told them about, but she must have slipped somehow because Charlotte figured out what was happening and ordered Barry to knock her out. They put another piece of tape over her lips for good measure.

After Fawna had knocked Barry out and Dream had knocked Charlotte out as a mermaid, I took it upon myself to make sure we were all okay. I first untied Beth, a great pain for both of us seeing as my right hand was cut from when I had grabbed the whip and both of her hands were blistered. Beth went straight to her daughter and I went straight to Bella, untying her and dragging her outside so she wouldn't be near Charlotte or Barry when they woke up. The gang was all there and they immediately started patching up the wounds; the cuts on my face and hand still sting from Lewis' antiseptic but at least there is no more blood coming from them.

Now we all stood on the outside of the cabin, the door to it closed, as we pondered on what to do with the two people still inside it. We didn't have much time; there was no telling how serious the little girl Marie's wounds were. So we eventually decided to take them with us back to the mainland and figure the rest out from there. I dried Charlotte off and Zane assisted me in tying up both her and Barry. Zane started off carrying Barry and Ash started off carrying Charlotte as we began the walk back to shore, back to the boats. The reason Lewis and Will didn't help with the body lifting was because Will was busy supporting Bella's uneasy walking (though she refused to be carried) and Lewis wasn't very strong. I felt pretty fine walking though my step faltered sometimes; so both Cleo and Emma stood by my sides in case I fell, very unnecessary if you ask me, though the gesture was nice. Emma securely held Fawna as Cleo did Dream; Sierra however contentedly walked right in front of me, holding my left hand. I would've carried her too had there not been the danger that I would fall or drop her. Seth and Fara walked together near Ash and Zane, though a safe distance away in case Charlotte or Barry awoke. Cara, of course, stood by her mother on the side not occupied by her father; not in her mother's arms for the same reason Sierra's not in mine. Beth, Elizabeth and Marie stayed at the back of the group. Both of Beth's hands were tightly wrapped and Marie was in Lucy's secure arms, unconscious but still breathing.

About halfway there the two criminals gained consciousness, and would've attacked their carriers had Sierra not seen it coming in their thoughts. Zane and Ash immediately threw the two to the ground before they could do anything damaging and Cara used her mind control to get the two up and walking the same direction though a good deal away from us.

It didn't take too long for us to eventually reach the distance of the boat, though by this late time I think the kids were just about ready to pass out. In fact, we were just about to begin loading onto the few boats the boys had brought when a bright light shined from an unknown source in the dark sea, we had to block out most of the light with our hands to keep the light from blinding us. Ten seconds later a big white boat with the word 'RESCUE' on it came into view, a siren was heard, and soon after a voice came from it saying, "This is the water police." Déjà vu anyone?

**A/N Hope you liked it, please review or PM me with your opinions! :D Also I would like to say I am sorry about the chart on the last story; I had put it in table format when typing it without realizing that it wouldn't appear that way on fanfiction. Still, it came up pretty understandable, but if any of you readers are confused just leave your questions in a review or PM. Thank you for reading & again please review! :D**

**Also I would like to tell you that I have posted the links to some pictures I drew of the children, basically showing them and their powers and such. More pictures are to come. :)**


	26. The Aftermath

**A/N I am soooo sorry this chapter took so long. I knew what I wanted to happen, but I had a lot of trouble putting my thoughts into words. Well here is the final product, enjoy!**

**Chapter 26: The Aftermath**

Lewis' P.O.V.

We all boarded the police ship which immediately headed back to the mainland. Our few small boats were tied to the ship and dragged along. None of us said a word the whole trip, but it seems we didn't need too. Charlotte and 'Barry' were immediately arrested and we were all left on deck while a small group of police officers talked together in the cabin, they didn't even begin to question us on what happened.

When we got to the mainland Beth, Marie, Bella, and Rikki were immediately taken to the hospital, the same one that I work at. Lucy, Elizabeth, Will, Zane, and I went with them; me because I am their doctor and I need to make sure that no water comes near them and the others came for help and support. The rest stayed behind with the police for questioning.

None of their injuries were fatal, just as I thought/hoped. The cuts on Rikki's hand and face were deep enough that they had to be stitched. Beth's hands were treated for the burns, but otherwise she was fine. Bella had a mild concussion. Marie's cuts also had to be stitched and she needed a blood transfusion to replace the blood she had lost, but it was very probable that she would wake within the next twelve hours.

After about an hour all the girls were settled and not in need of immediate care. The police had come along with the rest of our group, they were in the waiting room. Once I gave the police the okay, they went to each of the girls' (Rikki's, Bella's, and Beth's) rooms to interrogate them on what had happened back at Mako. There wasn't much I could do now, I wasn't on duty and none of the girls needed me, so I decided to just stay in the waiting room with Cleo, Dream, and the others. It wasn't until I was just a few meters away from our group that I realized someone else was there, someone totally unexpected, Christopher, Charlotte's husband.

"What is he doing here?" I whispered to Cleo as I took the seat beside her, Emma sat at her other side. Christopher seemed to be in intense conversation with Ash not too far away, Fara and Fawna were coloring at the table, and Dream was staring absentmindedly at the fish in the big aquarium that made up part of the wall nearby.

"He's the one who called the police men on Charlotte and Herman," Emma answered for her, confusing me so much I couldn't think of what to say, why would he call the police on his own wife? Granted, she is pretty psychotic, what she did was terrible, and I am grateful for what he did, but still. And who is Herman? Emma must have seen the confusion on my face because the next thing she said was, "I know, I was surprised too. Apparently he found her hidden diary and in it she had written of all that she did day by day along with her plans for the future. Herman is 'Barry's' real name, or at least the name he told Charlotte, that is the name she used for him in her diary."

"Does it explain why she did all this? What the point of this whole scandal was," I asked curiously.

"Yeah, for one next week there is a blue moon, and apparently if a mermaid is in the pool while the blue moon is over the volcano top she will not only lose all her powers and any memory of what happened while they were a mermaid. Needless to say she wanted us to end up in the pool on that fateful night," Emma explained quietly, so no one else could hear, while Cleo just kind of looked at the ground between us.

"Why did she want to do that? I thought she was over what happened between you guys years ago, especially since she is a mermaid again," I said trying to think like Charlotte.

"She is over the whole mermaid thing, she just isn't over . . ." Emma hesitated taking a breath before finishing, "you."

"Me?! What do I have to do with this?" I asked caught totally off guard, why would Charlotte do something bad to the girls if she wanted to get back at me?

Emma looked hesitantly at Cleo, who just gave a slight nod, before replying to me, "she mostly just wanted Cleo to lose all her memory so that she would have another chance with you. She had it all planned out, she was going to divorce Christopher, giving him custody of Chanel, and she was going to put Dream up for adoption. She thought Cleo would probably just end up going back to her parents house to live in confusion, because apparently the years can't be recovered. Plus she believed that if you gave her one more shot you would realize that you two were meant to be together and you would eventually marry and start a family with her."

"That's crazy!" I stated, but all I could think was _This whole thing was my fault, I never should have gone out with that girl in the first place!_

"Try telling her that," Emma said. That's when I noticed that Cleo had been crying. I instantly felt even worse than I did before, she, being the love of my life, would've been hurt the most by Charlotte's evil scheme.

"Don't worry, you know I would never let that happen to you or any of the other girls," I said trying to soothe her.

"This was all my fault," Cleo said sadly, "If I had never broken up with you then you would have never gone out with her, she would never know about us, she would never become a mermaid, and none of this would have happened. It's all my fault."

"No its not, if anyone is to blame it's me. I should've never gone out with her in the first place," I insisted trying to cheer her up.

"You wouldn't have if I hadn't broken up you," she said.

"That was my fault, I was too overprotective, I should've let you be more independent," I said, looking back on the mistake that caused our break up, "Now I know what I did wrong and am better. If you hadn't called me out on it I would probably still be the same and you would probably secretly be mad at me all the time; that would have torn us apart in the long run. What you did saved our relationship, not ruin it. I should've been more focused on improving myself rather than going out with someone else."

"Guys stop it, all this is none of your faults! That happened so many years ago," Emma said, breaking up our little debate, "It's all Charlotte's fault and all the stupid choices she made. Don't you think we have more serious issues to talk about than whose fault this whole mess is?"

"Yes Emma," Cleo and I said simultaneously, but seriously. We all went quiet after that though, allowing each other to get lost in our own thoughts of what was to come. Personally, I was worrying over the questions they would ask me in the interview. I worried how much I would have to lie and how to lie while getting as much truth across as is safe to keep the secret.

Those worries however did not take up enough time, after about ten minutes I decided those problems had to wait to be dealt with when the time came. When I knew the questions they were asking me, then the answer would come to me. So instead I began to worry what was going to happen after the interview, when we go to court. Will we all have to stand as witnesses? Will Charlotte reveal the secret, figuring going to prison would get her discovered anyway so why not bring them all down along with her? I honestly have no clue; the Charlotte I thought I knew oh so many years ago is gone, replaced completely by the Charlotte the girls have known all along. Then what about the blue moon? Sure we could treat it as any other full moon, just don't look at the moon or touch water, but what if someone does see it, goes to the moon pool, and loses all their powers and memory? Emma, Cleo, and Rikki have spent about half their lives as mermaids, and Bella has been a mermaid even longer; what would happen if all those memories just vanished? What if one of the kids sees the moon? They snuck out once on a full moon and were drawn to Mako Island; who's to say it won't happen again? What will happen to them if they do? Will they lose their powers plus all their memories? There were just so many questions, and so little answers.

"Dr. Lewis McCartney, it is time for your interview," said one of the police officers as he entered the waiting room. Here goes nothing.

**A/N I know it is not my best, but I hope you enjoyed it. Only one more chapter to go :) Please leave a review!**


	27. Just One Night

**A/N I know this is getting old, but I am really sorry about not updating sooner, but here it is. Thank you to all my reviewers, especially Lauren and jerzygurl22 (sorry for not thanking you guys earlier), your comments made my day when I read them, Thank you so much! :D**

Chapter 27: Just One Night

Elizabeth's P.O.V.

"So that's what this is all about? Some stupid blue moon?!" I just about screamed once I learned of Charlotte's intentions. We were all gathered in Marie's hospital room. It has been twenty-four hours since we got here, almost to the minute. Marie had woken up but was immediately put back to sleep because of the pain, she was okay now though. Greg and Ben had come not long after we made it to the hospital, but currently Greg was keeping Ben occupied in the small playground near the hospital. Beth, Bella, and Rikki had all been excused from their own rooms. Beth, Lucy, and I had been just sitting in Marie's room when the others came in, they wanted to talk out in the waiting room, but Beth wouldn't leave Marie's side, even as she remained in her deep sleep which she wouldn't come out of for at least eight hours.

"Basically; she wanted to use it to get back at Cleo for stealing Mr. Romeo over here from her," Rikki said sarcastically pointing to Lewis.

"She must be psychotic or something! That's way too far to go just some stupid guy!" I said. I saw Lewis was about to protest, but I was not in the mood to argue whether he was stupid boy or not, so I cut him off, "We should've never come here in the first place!"

"I always knew there was something off about Charlotte," Lucy said, "First she invades our group, then she purposely turns us into _mermaids_, and then she goes completely crazy on us!" She sounded really frustrated even as she whispered the 'mermaid' part.

"Don't worry; Charlotte will get what she deserves. There is more than enough evidence against her to get her locked up," Lewis said.

"Wouldn't that just ruin the secret?" Beth said with disgust and hate, speaking for the first time in a long time; I was so shocked that her words didn't even register in my mind.

"There is no way she will be able to keep her mermaid identity a secret! After that, there is nothing stopping her from exposing us!" Cleo said shocked; I was shocked too when I realized what that meant, and it made me angry.

"This stupid secret is ruining our lives!" I exclaimed, "Now what are we supposed to do? Work towards her release?!" I was being sarcastic, but in my mind I could think of no other way to keep this damn secret a secret.

"Well I have a theory, but you may not like it," Lewis said, apparently he had thought this through. Maybe he wasn't stupid after all.

"What is it?" Lucy asked, urging him to speak.

"Many years ago there were three girls who were mermaids, their names were Louise, Julia, and Gracie," Lewis began.

"Lewis, where is this going?" Emma said exasperated, I agreed, this was no time for telling stories.

"Hear me out," Lewis pleaded and continued, "Every fifty years, on the night when the planets align, a mermaid in the moon pool could lose her powers forever. When that time came around, Gracie decided she didn't want to be a mermaid anymore. Both Louise and Julia loved being mermaids, but Louise was willing to give it up so that she could still be friends with Gracie. They both jumped in together on that fateful night, and they both lost their powers forever. The point is, Julia lost her powers too, and for that she hated the other two girls and left them for good. So my theory is, if you gain your powers together, you lose your powers together."

"So basically what you're saying is that if we don't want to ruin our lives we have to give up being mermaids?" I asked piecing together what he just said, and honestly I didn't mind, "Why not?"

"You guys are really okay with losing your mermaid powers forever just so Charlotte will?" Bella asked incredulously, I know she has been a mermaid since she was young, so she probably couldn't imagine wanting to give up being a mermaid, but honestly I didn't mind it. Actually, my life would be a whole lot easier if I wasn't a mer-freak.

"I am, personally I hate it. Ever since I became a mermaid I've had to lie to almost everyone close to me, and I am tired of looking out for the littlest drop of water touching my skin," Lucy said.

"Me too, it's not worth the trouble," I agreed and Beth nodded.

"What about the great feeling you get as you swim, becoming one with the sea?" Bella asked.

"It's cool, but we don't get that much time to swim between work and being with family since my husband and children don't know about it. Plus, I sometimes feel a little awkward and out of place with a tail, it doesn't seem right," I explained as best I could.

"Me too, I think it may have something to do with Charlotte making us mermaids intentionally rather than accidentally like you guys. It's like Charlotte kind of messed with fate, and our being mermaids just wasn't meant to be," Lucy said.

"Perhaps, but you do realize that if you guys were to give up your powers on the night of the moon this week, you will forget everything between the time you became mermaids and now," Lewis said. Now that was hard to do, to purposefully just erase the last few months from my mind, though thinking back on it nothing significant really happened. Except …

"We won't even remember coming here," I said as realization hit me, "or meeting any of you guys."

"Maybe you guys could write letter to yourselves explaining everything, or at least parts of the past few months that you want to remember," Cleo suggested, which didn't sound like a bad idea.

'I think that could work," I said, though I really didn't like the thought of losing so much memory.

"I think it is our only option; it is what's best for all of us," Lucy reasoned, and again Beth nodded.

"Okay, as long as you guys are sure," Bella said, "I would hate to be in your positions."

"We're positive," I answered for all of us, the others nodded in agreement.

"Well then you have the next few days to figure out what you want to write in the letter and enjoy you're the time you have left as mermaids," Emma said sadly. However I knew there would be no more swims for fun, there was no way Marie was going to get out in this short amount of time and no way would any of us leave her side. That did not matter though, what mattered was Charlotte and Herman were locked up so they could do no more harm.

Just then, Greg and Ben came into the room. We took that as a sign to end the conversation then and there. Beth, Lucy, and I stayed in the room, but the others decided it best to leave.

We kept up small conversation until visiting hours were over, then Lucy and I had to leave, but we promised to be there first thing tomorrow.

~*~*~*~*~*~The Night of the Blue Moon~*~*~*~*~*~

(General P.O.V.)

The night had finally come. Elizabeth, Lucy, and Beth had all prepared letters for themselves, putting them in envelopes so no one else could read them. Lewis was going to take the letters and give them back to them at the hospital the next day. The plan was for Lewis and Ash to go with the girls, meaning Beth, Elizabeth, and Lucy, to Mako Island. There, the girls will go into the moon pool when the moon was over it, taking away their mermaid powers and consequently Charlotte's power as well. However, only the three of them should lose their memory (they are not sure if Charlotte would lose her memory as well). Then Ash and Lewis would lead the confused girls to the hospital saying they hit their heads, and they will be diagnosed with amnesia. The next day Lewis would give them their letters and they would decide what to do for themselves from there on.

The only bad part about this plan was that neither of the girls would be able to testify against Charlotte, but Lewis convinced them that there was enough evidence already to put Charlotte away for a long time. It all seemed like a perfect plan, but still the girls couldn't help but be nervous as they swam to Mako Island, being mermaids for their last time, and swam into the moon pool. No one said a word as they waited for the moon to rise. Lucy was on the verge of tears, Elizabeth couldn't think straight, and Beth just kept a solemn look on her face as they waited for the inevitable. They realized then that even though they didn't much enjoy being mermaids, it had still been a fun and unique experience that they would now lose forever.

They all looked up in unison as the moon came over the top and the pool bubbled . . .

~*~*~*~*~*~At the Trial (a couple months later)~*~*~*~*~*~

(General P.O.V.)

The trial was a pretty predictable one. The Bennett family lawyer was hired as the prosecution, representing the gang's case against Charlotte. Charlotte and Herman however got a court appointed lawyer, and in all her arrogance pleaded not guilty. Needless to say they could deny all they wanted to, but all the evidence was against them. They were each found guilty and sentenced to forty years in prison.

That night the Bennett's held a big party at their mansion to celebrate. With Charlotte locked up, there were no more metaphorical ghosts in Rikki, Cleo, and Emma's past that could come back to make their lives miserable. To them the future looked brighter than ever that night. But Bella's mind was somewhere else that day, she couldn't help but feel something even worse was coming though she had no clue what. However, she wrote it off as nothing just a weird feeling, nothing serious, and decided to share in the joy all around her that night at the party.

As for the kids, they had no idea what to make of the situation. It was a terrible experience, on they will never forget, but also one they were too young to fully understand. Therefore, it became one of those things they decided not to talk about. The night of the party they allowed themselves to forget about their worries and just play tag. Even little Marie, who was back up and running, played along with them. Of course she wasn't completely back to normal, she had traumatic episodes now and then when she would scream and cry for maybe fifteen minutes straight, and she was still haunted by nightmares, but as time moved on she seemed to be getting better.

That night they celebrated, choosing to ignore the threat of the future for just one night. And who could blame them?

The End of Life After Tentacle

**A/N So that's it, the story is finally over. As you can see I pretty much set up for a sequel because I do have ideas for another story, but I have not officially begun writing it. I am happy to say that this story was more popular than I expected, and I have all you readers to thank! THANK YOU!**

***Please go on my profile to vote for which story I should start posting next! :)**

**P.S. Sorry about the pictures, I just realized that they couldn't be opened :P If anyone could tell me how I could put a good link for the pictures I will be eternally grateful :)**


	28. For the Confused

**This isn't another chapter; it is more like a review of the conclusion of Life After Tentacle since I was made aware that there was a bit of confusion :) I got a review from a guest, and since I could not PM them I thought it would be best to clear things up in another update.**

**Summary of the Conclusion**

**They were able to stop Charlotte from carrying out her plan to Emma, Rikki, and especially Cleo go into the moon pool and lose their powers forever (she didn't have anything against Bella). However, the group realized that if Charlotte was arrested there was nothing stopping her from revealing herself to be a mermaid and exposing all of them. **

**Ms. Chatham had told them the story of how she and Gracie jumping in the moon pool on the planetary alignment caused Julia to lose her powers as well. This indicates that those who change together have to stay together; that if one of the people in the group loses their powers the others do too. Therefore, since Lucy, Elizabeth, and Beth were changed with Charlotte, them losing their powers on the blue moon would also cause her to lose her powers. So on the blue moon the three girs, Elizabeth, Beth, and Lucy, went into the moon pool and lost their powers along with their memory.**

**They did not remember the trial, but they wrote letters to themselves, separately explaining the situation. They could not act as witnesses since their memory could be questioned, but there was more than enough other evidence to put her and her accomplice away for a long time.**

**As for Cleo, Rikki, Emma, and Bella, they did NOT lose their powers nor their memories. If they did, it would completely mess up their current lives since Bella has been a mermaid since she was nine and the others since they were fifteen. Therefore they took care of the trial, acting as witnesses in court, and they helped Lucy, Elizabeth, and Beth with their memory, at least the parts they knew about. Through this they became pretty close friends. In the end they got one night to just put all their issues aside and be happy.**

**A/N Well there it is, hope this clears things up for you guys :) & PLEASE remember to vote for the story you want me to upload next, the poll is on my profile now and will be up for the next week or so! :D**

**P.S. The questions came from a person who reviewed as a 'Guest' so whoever you are, could you please reply to this one so I know you got it :D**


End file.
